VOLUNTEERING: SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF PUBLIC LEGAL REGULATION

Abstract

The subject of the study is the conceptual, theoretical, methodological and applied provisions of volunteer activities. Methodology. General scientific methods were used in the research process. The comparative method was used to compare different forms of volunteering and different contractual instruments for formalising volunteering relationships. Analysis was used to determine the quantitative and qualitative parameters of current and previous legislation. Synthesis was used to identify the main characteristics of voluntary activities. The historical-legal method was used for the purpose of researching the historical retrospective of the development of legislation on the relevant problem. The purpose of this article is to analyse the past and present normative regulation of volunteering, comparing approaches to the regulatory framework before and after the normative reform of the relevant institution. The research also aims to identify the influence of socio-political and socio-economic trends on the transformation of the institution of volunteering. The results of the study have shown that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the institution of volunteering has undergone a continuous transformation, mainly due to the fact that volunteers focus on the performance of their daily tasks before adhering to public legal norms and regulations. This is quite understandable, as the interests of national defence and military support take precedence over individual elements of public law regulation. Consequently, the state is constantly seeking mechanisms for institutional simplification in the regulation of volunteer activities. Conclusion. To date, the regulation of volunteer activities in Ukraine operates in both the private and public legal spheres. It's worth noting that while the private legal regulation of volunteer activities is flexible and concise in its normative framework and generally does not raise significant concerns, the same cannot be said for the public legal regulation of volunteer activities. Since the beginning of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tax legislation on volunteer activities has undergone several changes. In particular, from the outset there was a more liberal approach to the tax and legal regulation of volunteering than later developed. This was partly to avoid situations where volunteering could be used as a mechanism to evade taxation or to legitimise income obtained by criminal means.