Criteria for the formation of the labour-law branch in Russia
The author examines the criteria, which allow legal scholars to consider the labour-law branch independent. He studies the problems of dating the origins of the Russian legislation on wage labour. The subject, method, presence of a codified act, scientific generalizations, social needs, and some other criteria for the formation of the branch of law are critically assessed. It is concluded that the branch of law is a formal-dogmatic construction that is absent in objective reality and belongs to abstract systemology, but has a pragmatic meaning. The recognition of a particular branch of law is conventional and is carried out by scientists due to the prevailing reasoning. The use of any criterion of independence of the branch of law is subjective and not verifiable. The author believes that the presence of relations with certain attributes, normative generalizations, security mechanisms, and social demand are the most coherent criteria for the formation of the labour-law branch.