Філософсько-правова рефлексія Конституції Пилипа Орлика як феномену європейського права

Abstract

The article analyzes the significance and role of the outstanding historical monument of the Ukrainian state formation of the first half XVIII century Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution in the context of European lawmaking. It is considered as an outstanding political and legal document, which contains such elements of the doctrine of natural law as justice, humanism, respect for human rights and freedoms, equality before the law, separation of powers. The purpose is to apply philosophical and legal reflection to clarify the role of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk in the development and formation of domestic and European law. Methodology. The basic methodological approaches were axiological, comparative-historical, interdisciplinary, hermeneutic. The theoretical basis of the study consisted of legal documents, scientific publications and research, information materials. The scientific novelty lies in the application of philosophical and legal reflection to the understanding of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk as a phenomenon of European law, which lays the foundations for further concretization of historical patterns of Ukrainian constitutionalism and justification of priority principles for its improvement. Conclusions. A wide range of scientific views on the assessment of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk in the historical process is analyzed and found that despite its more than 300-year history, there is no single approach to understanding the legal and philosophical nature of this document. The article shows that the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk laid down a progressive idea of expressing the aspirations and needs of the whole nation, which testifies to the high level of legal and philosophical culture of the Ukrainian elite of that time. In addition, it, consolidating the mechanisms of people's sovereignty, became a project of an independent state built on the universal values of natural law. This, in turn, shows that the then Ukrainian political elite was entirely in the spirit of European legal tradition and political culture. Keywords: philosophical and legal reflection; constitution; constitutionalism; Pylyp Orlyk; legal tradition; contract; constitutional act; separation of powers; European law.