Some features of domestic civil legislation in the late 1980s - early 1990s

Introduction: the article deals with some features of the formation of the federal and Russian civil legislation in the late 80s - early 90s of the 20 th century. Special attention is paid to the radical changes in constitutional and, as a result, in civil legislation, which predetermined destruction of the economic foundations of the Soviet social system. Purpose: to study the peculiarities of changes in civil legislation during the given period in order to comprehend the whole range of issues that arose in the implementation of legal norms and institutions at that crucial stage. Methods: the methodological framework of the research comprises systematic and historical methods, which reveal the essence of the legal matter of the transition period considering the historical and political situation. These methods are based on the method of dialectical materialism, giving the opportunity to show interdependent relationship between the economic basis of the period under study, changing economic functions of the state and civil legislation. Results: in the course of research the author studied the main civil legislation regulations of the USSR and RSFSR of the late 1980s - early 1990s, as well as some case materials. The author’s findings are in agreement with those of the scientists (V.P. Reutov, Yu.V. Vasil'eva) who believe that the subject of legal regulation does not always determine the structure of the branch of law. Radical changes in the political and economic development of the state often entail changes in the functions of the state and, as a result, in the functions of law and sectoral legislation. Analysis of the transition processes confirms this statement. Conclusions: considering the system changes in the political and socioeconomic structure of the USSR, some failures in regulating public relations were inevitable, as was the derangement in the relationship of internal structural law elements, resulting in the absence of legal matter stability. These factors objectively influenced the system of civil legislation.