INTERPRETATIONAL FORM OF EXECUTIVE BODIES ACTIVITY IN UKRAINE: CURRENT STATE AND WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT

Abstract

Introduction. The most extensive link in the mechanism of legal regulation, aimed at individual regulation of social relations, is law enforcement. At the same time, the application of law is primarily an administrative activity of state bodies and officials, which consists in issuing individually specific instructions that do not contain general rules of behavior, but are addressed to specific subjects. An important element of the application of law is the mandatory clarification of the content of the relevant norm, that is, its law enforcement interpretation. Unfortunately, much less attention is paid to legal interpretation, which is carried out by the executive branch, than to the interpretative activities of parliaments and courts. The relative inattention to the executive branch as an interpreter of the law is truly striking, given the extraordinary breadth and importance of legal interpretation by the executive branch. In the process of implementing laws, the executive branch is constantly involved in the process of giving the law a certain meaning.

Summary of the main results of the study. The analysis of the current legislation allows us to distinguish two main types of laws of Ukraine, which provide for the authority of executive bodies to provide clarification of the actual content of legal norms: 1) statutory ‒ laws that regulate the tasks, functions and competence of the executive bodies of Ukraine themselves; 2) sectoral ‒ laws that regulate public relations in certain spheres or branches of state administration. The laws of Ukraine, which contain the authority of executive bodies to provide official clarification of legal norms, differ in the scope of these authorities: a) laws of Ukraine, which grant authority to officially interpret only those legal norms that are provided for by the law itself; b) laws of Ukraine, which authorize the official interpretation of an entire type or subspecies of public relations. Some central executive bodies have received the authority to officially interpret both the laws of Ukraine and the decrees of the head of state. Sometimes the delegation of legal interpretation powers to central executive bodies is carried out by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In recent years, an alarming trend has emerged: central executive bodies, when providing certain explanations of current legislation, make reservations about their non-binding nature. Thus, the relevant documents of the Ministry of Justice (as a rule, these are letters) state that they: 1) are not regulatory legal acts, do not establish legal norms and are only informational in nature, and their real significance does not exceed the authority of the arguments and judgments that form the basis of the relevant legal position; 2) is not legal advice on a specific situation and does not take into account the specifics of the relevant factual circumstancesNon-recognition of mandatory nature in interpretative acts of executive bodies deprives these acts of meaning and discredits the interpretative form of activity of these bodies as such, casting doubt on their competence and ability to adequately assess the content of regulatory legal acts regulating public relations in their areas of jurisdiction, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the executive vertical. Moreover, such an approach undermines the principle of legal certainty, forcing subjects of legal relations to go to court in the event of different interpretations of certain legal norms by them, further burdening the judicial branch of power.

Conclusions. The interpretative form of the activities of executive bodies in Ukraine requires significant revision and renovation. In particular, it is advisable to enshrine in the current legislation (both statutory and sectoral) three fundamental points regarding official interpretation by executive bodies: 1) The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and local state administrations as bodies of general competence are authorized to provide only authentic interpretation of their own regulatory legal acts; 2) central executive bodies as bodies of special competence are authorized to provide authentic interpretation of their own regulatory legal acts, as well as casual and normative interpretation of the laws of Ukraine, regulatory acts of the President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine within the framework of their subject jurisdiction; 3) the interpretation of the legal norms contained in the act of official interpretation of the executive body is mandatory for all executive bodies of lower level, as well as for all individuals and legal entities that are subjects of those relations that are regulated by the interpreted norms. We believe that such an approach will serve to increase the authority of executive bodies, enhance their efficiency and responsibility, and will contribute to strengthening legality and improving legal certainty in all areas of public administration.