Legislative inflation: a theoretical legal study

Introduction: the issue of ensuring the effectiveness of legal regulations has always been a focus of academic attention. One of the criteria of effectiveness is the stability of legal norms. The phenomenon reflecting the opposite state of legislative array - instability of legal norms - has received the special name of ‘legislative inflation.’ The article aims to study the bases of the theoretical model of legislative inflation on the example of Russian legislation. This is done through clarification of the doctrinal understanding of legislative inflation, its quantitative and qualitative characteristics, determinants that contribute to an increase in its rate, negative consequences, deterrent tools. Methods: the ontological basis of the study is the theory of law with its means of formal normativism making it possible to identify the defective phenomena indicative of legislative inflation. The methods used include general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparison and classification, abstraction and the axiomatic method); special scientific method (mathematical and statistical); special legal methods (legal- dogmatic, historical-legal, the method of legal norms interpretation). Results: the study examines quantitative and qualitative indicators characterizing legislative inflation at the current stage of the Russian legislation’s development of (data for 2019-2021); investigates doctrinal approaches to defining ‘legislative inflation’ in Russian and foreign scientific space; provides considerations regarding the determinants of legislative inflation; shows the negative effect of legislative inflation; identifies the tools of curbing legislative inflation, including those permanently associated with the legislative process. Conclusions: to counter legislative inflation, it is necessary to optimize lawmaking process, including in terms of providing it with a unified concept.