The paper analyzes the principle of sustaining citizen’s trust to the law
and actions of the state in the system of individual / authorities relations. This
principle is introduced into the Russian legal system by rulings of the Constitutional
Court of the Russian Federation possessing the legal force of the Russian
Constitution. However, the Supreme Law itself does not feature this property in
the text. It is accordingly required – which is the purpose of this paper – to study
this principle’s notion, content, nature, character, scope and place in the system of
other legal principles, including those established in the Constitution of the Russian
Federation, some of which are referenced by the Court in its rulings to justify the
identification of the analyzed principle. To solve the above tasks, methods of
interpreting official legal texts were applied (systemic, special legal and logical
methods), as well as the anthropological approach. It is established that the researched
principle is a general legal (universal) principle that stands on its own in the
system of principles and is associated with the need for the whole state’s activity
to comply with the established value, moral and ideological beliefs, generally accepted
social conventions, etc., i.e. society’s legitimate expectations, which defines its
scope and applicability. The recognition and respect of human dignity is central in
society’s legitimate expectations from the state as it implements its activities. The
latter requirement is fundamental for this principle and the public trust to state’s
activities that is shaped during its realization; at the same time, such requirement is
a criterion of how aligned state’s actions are with the society’s legitimate
expectations. The novelty of this approach rests on identifying closely interconnected
grounds, features, content and scope of the researched principle.