Law Scientific School of the Presidential Academy (St. Petersburg): History and Main Ideas

Introduction: Using the example of the law school of the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the article examines the concept, characteristics and main criteria for identifying scientific schools. The relevance of the subject of this work is determined not only by the insufficient research of the material (although several interesting scientific works were devoted to the activities of the founders of the law school of the Presidential Academy in St. Petersburg, including K. K. Lebedev, M. O. Akishin et al.), but also the importance of the very problem of institutionalization of law schools in the context of the transition to postclassical (post-nonclassical) scientific rationality. Methodology and materials: The application of postclassical methodology allows us to conclude that every scientific school is not only an institutional form of organization of scientists’ activities, but also a complex self-developing system of ideas implemented at three main levels: philosophical and methodological, the level of branch theories and the level of applied (practical) research. The synergy of all three of the above levels constructs a unified picture of legal reality that meets the criteria of scientific rationality. The results and discussion: The article examines in detail the views of the most significant representatives of the scientific school of the Faculty of Law of the Presidential Academy (St. Petersburg), namely L. I. Antonova, Y. Ya. Baskin and V. A. Sapun. It was shown that the work of these scientists gave a powerful impetus to the development of all Russian legal sciences, primarily philosophy and general theory of law, the sciences of international law, labor law and civil law. Thus, the conclusion is drawn that the law scientific school of the NWAPA — NWIM of the RANEPA is not a local, intra-university, but a phenomenon of general importance for modern legal science, quite comparable with St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and other leading schools. Conclusion: The Law School of the Presidential Academy has formed a unique research discourse that makes it possible to see in its leading representatives (Yu. Ya. Baskin, V. A. Sapun, L. I. Antonova and others) the founders of postclassical legal understanding, which occupied leading positions in Russian jurisprudence in the first quarter of the 21st century. Nowadays, its representatives carry out active scientific, pedagogical and expert consulting activities, which allows the scientific school to maintain a high potential for further development.

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