Theoretical and Methodological Issues of Constructing System of Financial Law Categories
Abstract
The article examines methodological aspects of constructing a categorical system of financial law, understood as a complex hierarchy of the categories of Philosophy, Economics, Politics, and Law. Specific methodological issues in constructing the financial law categories system are raised, a number of theoretical premises are proposed as starting methodological postulates for its construction, and the functional significance of its heuristic construction is substantiated. While defining concept of a financial law category, the issue of finding an «initial» category of financial law is raised, emphasizing competition between the categories of «finance,» «financial system,» and «state financial activity» from perspective of a law-forming character. Issues of intersectoral interaction between categories and concepts are analyzed (using the conceptual series «obligation,» «financial obligation,» «expense obligation,» and «monetary obligation» as examples). It is proposed to classify «proper» financial and legal categories as analytical subject categories — finance, budget, tax, money, and currency and legal synthetic categories, formed through synthesis of theoretical, general legal categories, and subject analytical categories: financial legal relations, budgetary legal relations, tax legal relations, monetary legal relations, and currency legal relations. The functional purpose of the heuristic construction of a categorical system of financial law is substantiated: defining subject matter of financial law as the most relevant and pressing task of the contemporary financial and legal scholarship. Issues of distinguishing between financial and civil legal relations are raised. Based on the analysis of scholarly sources, four approaches to defining the «initial» category of financial law are identified, based on that representatives of the relevant approaches structure the branch of financial law and determine its subject matter. The categorical system of financial law and law in general has a hierarchical structure, in connection with that it is concluded that the issue of systematization of financial law, caused by the theoretical need of defining its subject, is derived from the issue of finding satisfactory grounds for identifying branches of law or, more globally, systematization of law in general, since structure “branch of law — sub-branch — legal institution” may not be the only one recognized as appropriate one.
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