Functionality as an element of the legal nature of social benefits

The article examines the functionality of social benefits as an element of their legal nature, which is analyzed on the basis of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, formulated in relation to various types of social benefits (pensions, monthly monetary compensation for damage caused to the life and health of military personnel, etc.). It is concluded that the legal nature of social benefits is their complex characteristic, combining various parameters that reflect their essence and place in the social security system. The functionality of social benefits reflects their legal nature in dynamics, in the structure of the mechanism of legal regulation, where they act as objects of social security legal relations. The functionality of social benefits is proposed to be understood as a property that combines the target orientation of such payments and the legal means to ensure its implementation. Assessment of the functionality of social benefits can be considered as one of the forms of assessment of the effectiveness of legal regulation of social security and contribute to the optimization of the system of types of social security.