The relevance of this research is determined by the need for a systematic analysis of the legal nature of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) performing intermediary functions between the state and business in the context of the development of a market economy and the improvement of public administration. The complexity and multifaceted nature of this legal institution require the development of a well-founded classification reflecting the public-law character of their activities. The aim of the article is to examine the approaches developed in legal science to the classification of self-regulatory organizations as organizations performing intermediary functions between the state and business. The methodological framework of the research comprises a combination of dialectical and systemic methods of cognition, which allow considering SROs as an integral phenomenon in their historical development and interconnection with public administration. The study employs the formal legal method to analyze the norms of current legislation (Federal Laws No. 315-FZ, No. 223-FZ, the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation), the comparative legal method to compare various types of SROs and approaches to their classification, the method of classification and typologization to develop an original system of criteria for differentiating SROs, as well as the method of judicial practice analysis to identify the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation concerning the public status of SROs. The theoretical basis comprises works by Russian scholars in the fields of constitutional, administrative, and business law. The normative basis consists of federal laws regulating the activities of SROs and decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The results of the study make it possible, based on the criteria reflecting the public-law nature of their activities and the analysis of current legislation and law enforcement practice, to identify various aspects of this legal phenomenon and to find the most accurate approach to its essence. The authorial typology of SROs is proposed and substantiated.
