The paper is devoted to linguistic and hermeneutical aspects of doctrinal (scientific) interpretation of the text of a law. The author substantiates the necessity for a linguistic approach to the interpretation of the text of a law. The main peculiarity of such an approach is the interpretation of a law text as a common speech production act with its inevitable subjectivity and diversity
of interpretational options. The paper affirms that this approach is significant for the legislative theory and practice. In the circumscribed aspect the author examines the doctrinal exposition, which is classified as a variety of unofficial exposition in the theory of State and law. Doctrinal
type of exposition has rarely been a subject to scientific study. The paper considers its peculiarities. On the basis of handling the terms «assumption of innocence» and «authentic interpretation of the law» in scientific texts analysis is made of the regularities of sense-formation with the scientific
approach to terms. The stress is made on the variability of the results of sense-formation, intimately associated with scientific pluralism.