Concept «municipal law – a complex branch of law»: a critical analysis of modern approaches

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the point of view common in modern legal science regarding the understanding of municipal law as a complex branch of law. Methodology. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and a synthesis of available scientific and theoretical information. It is includes the formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. Such methods of scientific knowledge were used: systemic and structural-functional methods – used to identify features of municipal law as an independent branch of law; the sociological method was used in the analysis of internal and external factors and social processes that determined the evolution of municipal law, as well as in the analysis of the current state of its development in Ukraine; formal-logical method – to determine the main concepts, legal bases of conflict resolution in understanding the legal nature of municipal law; the semantic method was applied to clarify the meaning of such phrases as «municipal law», «branch of law», «municipal power», «municipal human rights», etc., their meaning in the context of the formation of the theory of modern municipal law. Results: In the process of research, it was recognized that municipal law is an independent branch of law, and the concept of understanding it as a complex branch of law is theoretically erroneous and practically harmful. Originality. In the process of research, it was established that municipal law as an independent branch of law has its own specific subject of regulation, its own characteristics, and does not consist of the norms of various homogeneous branches of law as some secondary regulatory entity. This is confirmed by the specificity of the tasks of legal regulation of relations related to the organization and functioning of municipal authorities, as well as the implementation and protection of municipal human rights. Practical significance. The results of the research can be used in law-making work – as theoretical material for improving the municipal legal regulation of the organization and activities of local self-government as a type of public power in Ukraine; in the research field – for further development of the theory of municipal law; in the educational process – during the preparation of relevant sections of textbooks and educational aids on the municipal law of Ukraine and foreign countries, teaching of relevant educational disciplines and special courses.