The right to life: the essence of the concept

Introduction: the article attempts to define the essence of the concept of “right to life” through the analysis of the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the legislation of some foreign countries and scientific literature. Its study is conditioned by the fact that the right to life is recognized as a fundamental and primary constitutional right, requiring proper legislative consolidation and regulation of its provision and protection. Materials and Methods: the theoretical basis of the study was the work of domestic scientists - specialists in constitutional law. General scientific and special scientific research methods were used which made it possible to analyze and generalize the materials collected by the author from various sources related to the subject of the study. Results: a detailed study of the essence of the concept of “right to life” showed the ambiguity of its definition in the scientific literature. The legislation also did not unambiguously define the content of the concepts “life” and “right to life”. The article described the experience of securing the right to life by some foreign countries, and also analyzes various approaches of scientists to the concept under consideration. The author proposed the definition of the right to life, which required legislative consolidation at the federal level. Discussion and Conclusions: the author concludes that, despite the fact that the right to life is the basic and primary right of every person, there are problems related to its implementation and protection. The definition and clarification of the essence and content of the right to life will successfully solve these problems, because the legal content of such categories as “life” and “right to life” influences the resolution of the issue of state guarantees for its provision.