Gaps in the Law

the complete or partial absence of rules of law on whose basis a state agency could decide a question of application of the law in a case subject to legal regulation. Gaps in the law may occur because such a case was not taken into account when the law was created or because the case is a result of new social relations that emerged after the law was promulgated.

Gaps in Soviet law are related primarily to the fact that a certain part of legislation lags behind the rapidly developing Soviet society. A court—or any other body that executes the law— cannot, upon finding a gap when applying a law, fill the gap itself; it must make a report to a legislative body regarding the issuance of new legal ruling. In some cases, indicated by law, the court may decide a concrete case by analogy. Removing gaps in the law is an important task in the improvement of legislation and is accomplished by legislative bodies through the creation of new rules of law.