Judicial Law-making and Its Regulation in Independent Ukraine: Its History and Development
Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Methodology. – 3. Prerequisites for the Occurrence of Judicial Law-making in Ukraine (1991-1995). – 4. Constitutional Support for the Judicial System and the Judiciary in Ukraine (1996-1999). – 5. Small Judicial Reforms and Judicial Law-making in Ukraine (2000-2009). – 6. The Crisis of Judicial Legislation in Ukraine (2010- 2013). – 7. The Conceptualisation of Legal Support for Judicial Law-making in Ukraine (2014-present). – 8. Conclusion.
Abstract
The article studies the history of the origin and development of legal regulation of judicial law-making in Ukraine. The analysis of doctrinal ideas about judicial law- making, as well as the peculiarities of its formation in Ukraine, allowed us to emphasise that our scientific research is relevant because of: 1) the duration of the domestic judicial
system and judicial reform, which dates back to the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence (1991) and continues to this day; 2) the ambiguity of the legal support for judicial law-making in Ukraine, the high level of its variability, and the uncertainty of the legal status of the subjects of judicial power in the mechanism of domestic law-making; 3) the doctrinal uncertainty of the place of judicial law-making in the domestic legal system, the ambiguity of its scientific perception, and the understanding of its function in the domestic mechanism of legal regulation.
This paper analyses the provisions of the legislation of Ukraine in terms of legal support for forms and procedures of judicial law-making, the legal significance of judicial law-making acts, and their impact on administering justice in Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to the activities of the judiciary in the areas of law enforcement and law-making, the relationship and interaction of which requires strengthening in the current context of reforming the judicial system and the judiciary in Ukraine.
The stages of development of the legal regulation of judicial law-making in Ukraine are revealed, the peculiarities of the legal support for judicial law-making are determined, and the content of the legal regulation of the mechanism of participation of the subjects of the judicial power of Ukraine in the national law-making is characterised.
Analysis of the history of the legal regulation of judicial law-making in Ukraine and the current state of its legal provision allowed us to conclude that despite the scale of legislative changes in the legal support for the judicial system of Ukraine today, neither the Supreme Court, nor the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, nor any other court institution is recognised by the legislation of Ukraine as subjects of law-making. The legislation of Ukraine does not contain a clear definition of their status as the subject of law-making with the right to accept generally obligatory acts of this process. It is noted that such uncertainty significantly weakens both the legal support for the courts and their activities. At the same time, it is noted that as a result of the adoption of legislative acts within the judicial reform during 2014-2017, which are still in force today, the legislator has made a significant step towards recognising and consolidating the official status of judicial law-making, namely: 1) a number of legislative powers of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine were consolidated; 2) the legislative regulation of the stages of the law-making process by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has been strengthened; 3) the legal consolidation of the status of law-making acts of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has been improved.
About Authors
Dr.Sc.(Law), Prof., Law School,
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
tarasdid@knu.ua
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2442-8138
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The author declares no conflict of interest of relevance to this topic. Although the author serves at same institution as one of the editors of AJEE, which may cause a potential conflict or the perception of bias, the final decisions for the publication of this article was handled by the editors, including choice of peer reviewers, and Editorial Board Members, who are not affiliated to the same institution.
DISCLAIMER
The author declares that he was not involved in any state bodies or any other organisations activities, related to the discussed draft laws and case-law.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to express her gratitude to the reviewers and editors of the journal and to the English editor, Sarah White.
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В статті проаналізовано положення законодавства України в частині правового забезпечення форм і процедур судової правотворчості, правового значення актів судової правотворчості, їх впливу на здійснення судочинства в Україні. Особлива увага присвячена питанням діяльності суб’єктів судової влади в сферах правозастосування та правотворчості, що потребує посилення взаємозв’язку та взаємовпливу в сучасних умовах реформування судової системи та системи судочинства в Україні.
Розкрито етапи становлення правового регулювання судової правотворчості в Україні, визначено особливості правового забезпечення судової правотворчості, охарактеризовано зміст правової регламентації механізму участі суб’єктів судової влади України в національній правотворчості.
Аналіз історії становлення правового регулювання судової правотворчості в Україні та поточного стану його правового забезпечення дозволив підсумувати, що, незважаючи на масштабність законодавчих змін в питанні правового забезпечення функціонування судової системи України на сьогодні ні Верховний Суд, ні Конституційний Суд України, ні будь-яка інша судова інституція законодавством України не визнані як суб’єкти правотворчості, законодавство України не містить чіткого закріплення їх статусу як суб’єкта правотворчості із правом приймати загальнообов’язкові акти правотворчості. Відзначено, що така невизначеність суттєво послаблює як правове забезпечення діяльності судів, так і саму їх діяльність. Водночас звернено увагу на те, що за результатами ухвалення законодавчих актів в межах проведення судової реформи протягом 2014-2017 років, які є чинними і на сьогодні, законодавцем було зроблено суттєвий крок вперед до визнання та закріплення офіційного статусу судової правотворчості, а саме: по-перше, було закріплено ряд правотворчих повноважень Верховного Суду та Конституційного Суду України; по-друге, посилено законодавчу регламентацію етапів процесу здійснення правотворчості Верховним Судом та Конституційним Судом України; по-третє, удосконалено правове закріплення статусу правотворчих актів Верховного Суду та Конституційного Суду України.
Ключові слова: правотворчість, судова правотворчість, судова практика, судовий прецедент, правове регулювання судової правотворчості, Верховний Суд, Конституційний Суд України.
How to cite it?
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T Didych, ‘Judicial Law-making and Its Regulation in Independent Ukraine: Its History and Development’ 2021 3(11) Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 82–100. DOI: 10.33327/AJEE-18-4.3-a000071
