The problem of the constitutionalization of public finance (foreign experience and the Ukrainian model) has been studied within the thesis. The legal nature and objective conditions for the constitutionalization of public finance have been disclosed. The types of doctrinal and normative approaches to the constitutionalization of public finance have been analysed.
It has been established that the process of constitutionalizing public finance involves a significant increase in the impact of constitutions on the social and economic development of society. It has been proved that public finance is a category of constitutional law in terms of the degree of individual freedom and the limits of the powers of public authorities in public finance. The constitutional model of the relationship between the rights of individuals and the powers of institutions of public authority with regard to public finance in Ukraine has been disclosed.
The author’s definition of the concept of «constitutionalization of public finance» as a complex, dynamic process of constitutional formation (legal institutionalization) of public finance has been formulated, in view of its fundamental character and importance for the functioning of the individual, society and the state. It has been proved that the purpose of constitutionalization of public finance is to objectify constitutional values within the system of legal regulation of public finance.
As noted in thesis, the features of the structure of the public property right to financial resources in a specific period of society development are the decisive internal legal factor in the evolution of the views of scholars jurists-constitutionalists on the issues of the legal nature of public finance and its constitutionalization. Based on the analysis of juridical literature, two approaches to understanding the nature of the constitutionalization of public finance - the substantive one and instrumental one have been identified .
Based on foreign experience, four models of the constitutionalization of public finance have been identified: an instrumental model of the constitutionalization of public finance, an instrumental model with social elements of the constitutionalization of public finance, a socialist (non-democratic) model of constitutionalization of public finance, a social-instrumental democratic model of the constitutionalization of public finance.
It has been proved that in the constitutional dimension the category of «public finance» is reduced to the objective social relations of large social groups, including people, nation, population, territorial communities, regarding the distribution and redistribution of gross domestic product and national income to satisfy public interest. It has been argumented that the concept of natural and inalienable human rights is the conceptual core of the constitutional degree of freedom of individuals in the field of public finance.
It has been argumented that the boundaries of powers of public authorities in the field of public finance are determined by the constitutional construction «public financial resources - public wealth» (Article 95 of the Constitution of Ukraine). Accordingly, the activity of the state on the accumulation, distribution and use of public financial resources as a necessary condition for the functioning of society has been constitutionally defined. Institutions of public authority are obliged to ensure the implementation of constitutional rights and freedoms before individuals. Obligations to the individual for the realization of his/her rights is the key to understanding the constitutional limits of the powers of public authorities in the field of public finance and the degree of freedom of the individual in the field of public finance.
It has been substantiated that, in accordance with Articles 3 and 95 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the state is not a monopoly owner of public financial resources, but rather a specific intermediary, a public representative of society in matters of distribution and redistribution of social wealth. The study of the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine of 1996 regarding the competence of the state in public finance and the boundaries of its powers, allows to characterize the powers of the state as a public service activity of public authorities in making decisions and influencing distribution and redistribution relations, that allows to streamline the existing system of public finance, provides the state with the opportunity to realize its social function to meet the social needs of individuals through the exercise of power.
In the scientific and practical plane, proposals have been made to improve the constitutional legislation in the field of public finance and the need to supplement the Constitution of Ukraine with a section on public finance.
