Bychkov I. The place of bodies of constitutional jurisdiction in the mechanism of checks and balances of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

The presented work is a comprehensive scientific study of the place of constitutional jurisdiction in the mechanism of checks and balances of a democratic state governed by the rule of law, which formulates a number of conceptual theoretical provisions and conclusions, as well as practical recommendations for the Constitutional Court and improving legal regulation and international standards. The place of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the mechanism of checks and balances according to the current version of the Constitution of Ukraine, taking into account the amendments of 2016 on justice and the Law of Ukraine "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine" of 13.07.2017 № 2136-VIII as the highest body called a system of checks and balances to protect the legal system and representative democracy from encroachment by individual or more branches of government. It is proposed to distinguish between functional and institutional aspects of the place of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the mechanism of separation of powers: based on the functional aspect, according to the tasks, a single body of constitutional jurisdiction is a professional extraordinary body of judiciary which is not part of any branch of government and is equidistant from them. The main functions of the body of constitutional jurisdiction in the system of separation of powers are determined: 1) integration - aimed at ensuring the unity of the domestic legal system, judicial and law enforcement practice, their compliance with the highest legal values enshrined in the Basic Law; 2) political - as a mechanism for resolving disputes and conflicts, political confrontations between different branches of government that threaten the stability of the state; 3) regulatory - which consists in the formulation of prescriptions that, in the presence of a legal conflict, are able to influence public relations and introduce them into the constitutional framework; 4) security - which is to ensure the protection and stability of the Constitution, as the foundation of the legal system and the source of norms that have the highest legal force. It is justified to give the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, along with the Supreme Court, the right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights within the procedure provided for in Protocol № 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, to provide advisory opinions on fundamental issues concerning interpretation or application of the rights and freedoms defined by the Convention and the Protocols in the context of a case pending before the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, for which it is proposed to amend the Law of Ukraine "On Ratification of Protocols № 15 and № 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" of 05.10.2017 № 2156-VIII.