The thesis (monograph) is devoted to investigation of the nature, evolution of formation, content and system of protection of the constitution, as well as the peculiarities of its practical realization in a modern democratic state. The issues of the genesis of the protection of the constitution, the concept of «constitution protection», the factors that determine the effectiveness of the constitution protection system, the role and meaning of the Ukrainian people, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, executive authorities, constitutional control, local government, courts of Ukraine, civil society as a subjects of protection of the Constitution of Ukraine are deeply examined based on the constitutional-comparative analysis of the similar constitution protection subjects in foreign countries.
The components of the concept of the modern understanding of the constitution protection doctrine are substantiated: the disclosure of the content of constitutional order as the system of really existing social relations determined by the democratic legal status of the individual, democratic principles of the state power formation, organization and functioning, interaction of state institutions, free activity of civil society institutions, enshrined and guaranteed by constitutional and legal norms; recognition of the permanence and immutability of the main ideas and grounds of the Basic Law and a high degree of protection of the principles of the constitutional order enshrined in the Basic Law (such as the priority of human rights, democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, democracy) as a defining and necessary conditions for the stability of constitutional order; understanding the need to ensure succession in the implementation of constitutional norms.
The current national doctrine of the constitution protection should be centered on: 1) rejection of the legal positivism but formulation of the legal understanding, which is based on liberal values, which form the basis of the common law principles and directly affect on the legal practice and the effectiveness of the human rights and freedoms protection in Ukraine; 2) the Basic Law should be in accordance with constitutional order; 3) building constitutional democracy based on the recognition that democratic values are the property not only of people but also of the state which must implement and protect these values; 4) urgent need not only to improve the institutional mechanism of constitution protection and to ensure the inviolability of the balance between human rights and the powers of authority, but also to protect the constitutional order that the Constitution of Ukraine already guarantees, especially under the socio-political conditions in which Ukraine remains since 2014 (military conflict in eastern Ukraine, annexation of the part of territory, the signs of «chaotic» constitutional process); 5) new conceptual approaches to understanding the nature and the content of the constituent power, the place and the role of civil society institutions, forms of citizen participation as socially active individuals in protection of the constitution; 6) recognition of the need for further scientific research concerning understanding and optimization of the institutional mechanism of the protection of the constitution.
A separate section is devoted to the methodological principles which were used to investigate the constitution protection, to highlight the essential features of the «constitution protection» category in the legal sense and clarify the institutional components of the system of constitution protection. The notion of «protection of the constitution» is distinguished from the related categories «defense the constitution», «guarantees of the constitution», «supremacy of the constitution», «regime of constitutional legality», «guaranteeing of the constitution», «ensuring the constitution», «implementation of the constitution», «constitutionalism», «constitutionalization». The content of the basic categories «protection», «defense (prevent, safeguard)», «ensuring», «realization (implementation)» and «guaranteeing» are determined.
A comparative analysis of the content of the constitutional legislation of Ukraine and national legislations of foreign, mostly European, countries concerning the means (guarantees) of constitutional protection has been made. The influence of the procedure of constitution adoption on the establishment of the principles of the constitutional order and the priority of constitutional values, as well as on the content of the Basic Law as a whole is analyzed. Contradictory role of the referendum as an independent form of constituent power and a form of direct democracy in the adopting the Basic Law and providing constitutional amendments is revealed.
