The Intellectual Basis of the Discretion of Law Enforcement Agents (the Question of the Role of Cognitive Abilities in Making Discretionary Decisions)
Abstract
Abstract. The proposed article attempts to explore the intellectual foundations of discretion from a psychological perspective and to analyze the role of the cognitive abilities of law enforcement entities in the exercise of their discretionary powers (procedural decision-making). This is primarily due to the fact that when studying the available works on the topic, although a significant range of scientific works was established on the role of cognitive skills in cognitive procedures, along with this, no research on the intellectual foundations of the discretion of law enforcement subjects was found at all. At the same time, the stated issue is relevant, since, on the one hand, there is currently no consensus on the need for such a law enforcement tool as discretionary powers in light of the risk of turning discretion into procedural arbitrariness, while on the other hand, it has not been fully determined what constitutes the basis of such discretionary procedures. Based on the systemic approach and the structural-functional method, it was possible to establish that the main principles in the exercise of discretionary powers should be the cognitive abilities of the subject of law enforcement, since decisions based on discretion should be primarily reasonable and balanced. As a result of the research, the conclusion was formed that the intellectual component of the discretion of law enforcement entities determines, first of all, the effective application of the methodology for making procedural decisions based on the results of a thorough analysis of the factual materials of the case under consideration, that is, on the basis of intellectual work on the case. Special attention was paid during the study to the study of the specifics of legal argumentation and the significance of the logical foundations of its construction in the process of implementing discretionary procedures. The article also lists a number of cognitive illusions that can hinder the adoption of an objective discretionary decision, while suggesting ways to eliminate the negative manifestations of these illusions. This study is quite original, as no one has investigated the discretion of law enforcement officers in this way before. The article also has significant practical significance, because it is impossible to understand a particular object or phenomenon without knowing it at the level of the psychological foundations of the thinking of the subjects of such decisions.
Keywords: discretion; discretion; subjects of law enforcement; intellectual sphere of discretion; cognitive factors.
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