S. S. Alekseev’s Ideas on Legal Impact and Their Present-Day Implications

The article discusses some aspects of the theory of legal influence and the mechanism of legal regulation by S.S. Alekseev. On the basis of his ideas, the author shows that the connection of law with the state, emphasized by the formed in our country academic tradition as a necessary and defining feature of its essence, is erroneous and dangerous, since eventually it will lead to arbitrary regulation of public life and oblivion of law as an independent entity. The article draws special attention to one of the most important ideas, which, according to the author, is often underestimated, that it is the level of development of legal culture in society, i.e. knowledge of those tools, technologies and means law offers for effective and the most optimal achievement of social tasks and resolution of individual life situations that becomes the security mechanism. The autonomous and relevant nature of these legal means, capable of acting automatically, having their own legal logic, is the essence of law as an independent phenomenon, assuming the permanent nature of mastering the depth of the culture of its being. The paper also stresses the potential of the ideas of an outstanding jurist and the need for their constant updating, reproduction and broadcasting in the legal space.