PRINCIPLE OF LEGITIMATE EXPECTATIONS: CONCEPT AND CONTENT

Abstract

The article reveals the concept and content of the principle of legitimate (legitimate, legitimate, reasonable, justified) expectations (expectations) as a component of the rule of law and the principle of legal certainty derived from it. Legitimate expectations have been shown to be derived from principles such as good governance, legality and proportionality, and are directly related to such concepts as predictability (predictability) and the effect of law over time (the possibility of retrospective legal regulation). An analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in which the Court appeals to the protection of legitimate expectations, and on the basis of this analysis determined the content of the latter. It is substantiated that in accordance with the settled case law of the European Court of Human Rights, legitimate expectations are mainly the subject of protection in the aspect of Art. 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The author argues that the principle of legitimate expectations is inherent mainly in public law disputes resolved by administrative courts. It has been shown that legitimate expectations cannot be equated with expectations that arise from subjective perceptions or misjudgments of certain circumstances or legal norms. The conditions under which a certain hope (requirement) of a person acquires signs of legitimate expectation and becomes the subject of protection within the meaning of Art. 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention. The legal basis for the emergence of a person’s legitimate expectations has been established. It is proved that the absence in the law of provisions on a certain right, which, however, follows from the general constitutional principles or natural law, or the absence of a law defining the mechanism of realization of such right cannot indicate the absence of legal basis for a person to have legitimate expectations rights.