Indicative mechanism of influence of judicial precedent and judicial practice on the modern legal system of Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines, in practical and theoretical aspects, of influence of judicial practice and judicial precedent on the modern legal system of Ukraine. Since Ukraine has been granted candidate status for accession to the European Union, significant changes have been taking place in the legal system of Ukraine, particularly in international law norms, where international treaties have become not only obligatory for application within the legal system of Ukraine but also have priority in case of conflicts between national and international legislation. These changes are driven, in part, by the inclusion of judicial power and issues of justice in the negotiating process regarding Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, identified as the most important tasks for Ukraine. This cluster, which opens first and closes last, defines the fundamental aspects of legal and institutional alignment between Ukraine and the European Union. The importance of this cluster lies in the fact that the judicial system and justice play a key role in ensuring the rule of law, democracy, and the protection of human rights. This significantly influences modern judicial practice and envisages an even wider use of existing precedents or precedents being formed. Currently, in the judicial practice of Ukraine, there are processes that can be interpreted as an indicative mechanism influencing the legal system of Ukraine. It involves a qualitatively distinct set of characteristics that were not evident in previous years. This concerns the interrelation between the legal system of Ukraine and contemporary judicial practice with inherent features of normativity of a precedent-based type. There is a mutually conditioned process. On the one hand, judicial practice is becoming increasingly internationalized, meaning it increasingly employs principles, standards, and norms of international treaties, increasingly accepts judicial precedent of varying degrees of formation, and increasingly orients itself toward widely recognized judicial-legal ideas and principles. On the other hand, the legal system of Ukraine provides for the possibility of effective control over the implementation of international acts within the framework of judicial practice, including the use of judicial precedent to a certain extent and in certain areas of application. Thus, judicial practice, utilizing judicial precedents of national and international origin, serves as an indicative mechanism for analyzing the legal system. Actual judicial practice becomes an indicator of the development of the legal system and its adequacy to contemporary socio-legal and state-legal processes.