Absolute Rights: Fiction or Reality?

Abstract

The relevance of the research is mediated by the significance of the institution of individual rights and freedoms at the present stage of the development of modern constitutionalism. In the constitutional text, human rights and freedoms are the highest value, which, however, does not imply unlimited freedom of will of individual social subjects of public relations. Individual rights and freedoms may be restricted by the State for human rights purposes in compliance with mandatory requirements, one of which is the prohibition of absolute rights restriction. However, to date, there is no consensus in the scientific community and in legal practice regarding the existence of such rights. The purpose of the study is to determine the criteria of absolute rights and, based on them, formulate a clear position regarding the confirmation or refutation of the existence of absolute rights. The analysis of the opinions of scientists and the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, in which the institution of absolute rights is investigated, is carried out. The author proposes his own definition of absolute rights and highlights the criteria for attributing such rights to an absolute group. Special attention in the framework of the study is paid to the content of part 3 of article 56 of the constitutional text, which is quite controversial in legal science and practice. Despite the critical attitude of a number of scientists to absolute rights, on the basis of doctrinal research and legal positions, a conclusion is made about the existence of such rights.