ABSTRACT
Later, in the 1970-1980s, researchers started to develop the concept of a legal system and broadened its scope from one single component (a body of legal rules) to several components. The terms ‘legal system’ and ‘body of legal rules’ are often used interchangeably in Russian and foreign law books, which is a tribute to the established tradition. However, it does not mean that these concepts are treated as theoretically identical. Adherents to the so-called broad understanding of law used the legal system concept in their polemic against legal positivists (etatists). Therefore, ‘the legal system’ is a Russian version of a broad (integral) understanding of law which comprises not only the body of legal rules, but also legal consciousness and legal relations.
