Religion – a Significant Factor in Law-Making and Law Enforcement Processes

Abstract

The relevance of this study is conditioned upon the fact that scientific papers have almost no attempts to theoretically develop the correlation between religion and law. Legal scholars ignore the forms of influence of religion on law-making and law enforcement activities. Available research in this area is often fragmentary. The purpose of this study was to prove the relationship between religion and law based on modern legal understanding of the main principles, to clarify the role of religion in the legal sphere. The philosophical and methodological framework of this study involved the principle of pluralism in the choice of methodological approaches, methods, and techniques because they form the foundation of the scientific and cognitive process, ensure unity and purposefulness in the study of common features of religion and law in the law-making and law enforcement procedure, such as ritualism, tradition, authority, and universality. It is argued that in modern society, religious values, albeit losing their former meaning of the”sacred image” of the world, and even if Christian principles do not have a direct impact on the legal system, still play a considerable role in legal life because European legal culture was created under the influence of Christianity, a Christian view of the world. Modern European legal systems operate in a social system that has absorbed Christian religious values. This study is aimed at further development of the general theory of law, expanding the knowledge about the correlation between religion and law in the system of social regulation, improvement of legislation. The results obtained can be used in the field of law-making and law enforcement, for the preparation of textbooks, manuals, for lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, and all those who are not indifferent to the development of legal awareness.