Alternative legal liability: the concept and criteria of institutionalization

Introduction: the article is devoted to the general theoretical system analysis of legal liability as an intersectoral (general legal) category, with the subsequent determination of the place of the alternative legal liability subinstitute in its structure. Materials and Methods: the theoretical basis of the article was the works of Russian scientists in history and theory of law. In the course of working on the article, general scientific, universal and special methods of scientific knowledge were used which helped to systematize the materials attracted by the author from various sources. Results: the author studied the essence of the concept of "alternative legal liability" and its ambiguous interpretation in the scientific literature. The article analyzed the criteria for the institutionalization of "alternative legal responsibility". Various approaches of Russian scientists to the concept under consideration were revealed. Discussion and Conclusions: the author comes to the conclusion about the state consolidation of the mechanism of alternative legal responsibility. At the same time, the initiation of the process of alternative legal liability may, in addition to the state, come from subjects within the framework of protecting their violated or disputed rights. Such a situation is formed due to the allocation of social groups with a special legal status at various stages of the historical development of human society, providing their owners with actual and legal inequality.