Russian Federation
The author employed comparative linguistic and content analysis to examine the terminology used in the British, French and German constitutions, other legal acts and international instruments to mean the concept of “supremacy of law” in the sense it is used in the Russian legal sources and legal literature (sometimes also of use is the term “domination of law”) and to reveal the differences in the origin, content and meaning of such word combinations existing between those used in the Russian language (other Slav languages) and foreign languages of Western Europe, also to show inadequacies of certain terms. The article shows that the principle of supremacy applies only to the notion of a state and to the notion of legitimacy (although the State in such terms is often understood to be a society in general). It deals with the definitions of “supremacy of law”, which were offered by international authorities. Furthermore, the author suggests such definitions should be modified to become more specific.
Supremacy of law, the term supremacy in foreign languages, a law-governed State, the principle of legality.
1. Bingham T. The Rule of Law. L., 2010.
2. Hamon F., Troper M. Droit constitutionnel. P., 2007.