Chukin D. S. Discretion in Law and Activities of the Military Official Functionaries of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation: the Essence and Permissible Limits

Abstract. The article studies the phenomenon of law enforcement discretion as an authority within which a competent official functionary makes a choice between two alternative options, each of which is within the law. It is noted that discretion in the field of military-service relations finds its expression in the principle of unity of command. Discretion is, on the one hand, a necessary tool for eliminating gaps in legal regulations, and on the other – a corruptogenic factor that generates a conflict of interests. It is stated that in order for discretion not to turn into an arbitrary act, boundaries or limits are needed within which it is considered permissible, necessary and expediential as well as correspondent to justice in its broad sense. It is noted that the basis of discretion is phronesis, as the basic principle that forms the core of decision-making.