The System of the Sources of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic during the Transitional Period

Abstract

The article deals with specific features of the system of the sources of law in the Kyrgyz Republic in transitional period. The works of legal scholars as to the concept of source of law have been analyzed. Practical significance of the problem of the sources of law in transitional periods has been researched. The analysis of pluralism of legal theories allows selecting three major approaches to the problem of the sources of law: normative, of natural law and integrative. The modern legal studies tend to identify the source of law with the form of law. Source of law is understood in material and philosophical meanings. The term source of law symbolizes the force generating law. The transitional period in the development of the Kyrgyz Republic may be recognized as a major factor determining the nature and character of the country's system of sources of law. Due to this, at the period of the development of the legal system in the Kyrgyz Republic, the necessity to study the source of law is evident. The system of the sources of social law began in the Soviet period. After the collapse of the USSR, the system of sources changed and got a new content having fixed the democratic component as a guideline in the development of the state. The source of law started developing after the first Kyrgyz Constitution was adopted in 1993. The major source of law in Kyrgyzstan is a regulatory act. The constitution dominates in the source of law system. However, in the context of globalization international treaties and legal custom are considered as sources of law either. The interaction of the sources of law occurs within a single system. During the transitional period, the legislation has exposed the drawbacks compensated by by-laws and legal institutions of legal analogy. In the period of globalization and integration, the norms of international law and international treaties are becoming one of the major sources. However, the Kyrgyz Constitution of 2010 does not codify the priority of international law norms over the domestic law of Kyrgyzstan. Besides legal tradition, legal norms typical of Kyrgyz common law (adatu) such as aqsaqal tribunal and triple aiyp are of special importance. Thus, the historical development of the Kyrgyz Republic is reflected in the system of the sources of law.