VN KARAZIN'S VIEWS ON THE STATE AND LAW

Abstract

V. N. Karazin, the founder of the Kharkiv National University, was a gifted person. He took an active position in life, was a state and public figure, engaged in various branches of science. Contemporaries and descendants called Karazin «Ukrainian Lomonosov»: he was engaged in chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, agronomy, achieving outstanding results in all sectors. The scientist’s life, work and scientific legacy have been the subject of many studies. However, his views on the state and law in this article are studied for the first time. They were formed in the spirit of Enlightenment ideas and met the principles of humanism. V. N. Karazin’s legal worldview is based on his understanding of the principle of legality as the cornerstone of the public good.  He adhered to the ideas of a monarchy limited by law (actually constitutional), the existence of representative bodies of power. He paid special attention to ensuring the separation of powers and the independence of the court from the administration. V. N. Karazin solved the main public question about the existence of serfdom law from the position of an enlightened humane landowner, pointing to the legislative restriction of landlord arbitrariness, recognition of the peasant’s human rights, the organization of peasant self-government and the formation of peasants’ property rights and the corresponding legal consciousness. Having no special legal education, the scientist paid much attention to self-education, was familiar with the works of prominent legal philosophers and legal theorists, such as S. Pufendorff, T. Hobbes, A. Mabli, S. L. Montesquieu, J. Rousseau.