Authentic (Author’s) Interpretation: Theoretical-Legal and Constitutional Legal Aspects

The aim of the research is to study the legal nature of authentic interpretation, its content and meaning as an independent type of interpretation of law, as well as to establish the set of subjects of such interpretation. The methodological basis of the research is formed by General scientific methods: dialectical, logical, system-structural, comparative, etc.; as well as private scientific methods: historical-legal, formal-legal, comparative-legal. It is noted that the term «authentic interpretation» was given diverse meanings at different stages of the development of Russian legal science. In the 19-early 20th century, authentic interpretation was identified with law-making. In Soviet legal science, an authentic interpretation was considered to come from both the subject of law-making and other authorized bodies. Modern research focuses on the government Agency that interprets the norm. It is proposed to replace the term «authentic» with the term «author's», since this name more accurately characterizes this type of interpretation. The article shows the main approaches to understanding authentic (author's) interpretation in Russian and foreign jurisprudence. It is established that when determining the range of subjects of the author's interpretation, it is necessary to consider the presence or absence of legal formalization of the power to interpret the norm. If we assume that the right to create and formalize norms automatically generates the right to interpret them, then the subject of authentic (author's) interpretation can be any state or non-state body that is the subject of law-making. If we assume that the author's authority to interpret their acts and its implementation should be regulated by the law, the range of subjects of author's (authentic) interpretation will be sharply narrowed. In addition, the research examines the relationship between the range of subjects of authentic (author's) interpretation and the form (source) of law in which the author puts the norm. Several controversial problems are identified: the subject of author's interpretation when creating an act in the order of delegation, and people's law-making, judicial author's interpretation, the author's interpretation of religious texts and normative agreements. The relationship between the subject and the object of authentic (author's) interpretation is demonstrated.

Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, interpretation of law, author’s interpretation, authentic interpretation, legal interpretation, delegated interpretation, subjects of interpretation