Annotation

The article is devoted to identifying the legal nature of public security as a constitutional-legal institute within the philosophical and legal tradition. A normative paradox is stated: the category is widely used in legislation and doctrine, yet it lacks a legal definition. The genealogy of the idea of security is examined – from the contractarian concepts of T. Hobbes and J. Locke to its modern axiological understanding. A three-level model of the institute's legal nature is substantiated: the value level (human rights and dignity), the normative level (a set of fragmented norms), and the organizational-functional level (the system of actors and the balancing mechanism in the practice of the Constitutional Court). It is concluded that the institute exists de facto and requires legislative statutization de jure through a basic federal law.