Hutiv B. Formation and development of the Vatican City State: historical and legal research

The dissertation is the first complex study of the problem of formation, development, and acquisition of the international legal personality of the Vatican City State in the Ukrainian historical and legal science, it was conducted through revelation of the preconditions, peculiarities, and sources on the basis of analytical comprehension of certain historical facts, events, phenomena, and processes of social and political, statelegal and religious and ecclesiastical nature, connected with formation and spreading of Christianity and establishment of Christian (Catholic) Church (I-III c.); appearance of the papal possessions and their unification into the papal demesne (the Patrimony of St. Peter), that practically formed into the Papal States (IV – mid VIII c.); creation on the basis of the Donation of Pepin and approval of the Papal States (mid VIII – late XIX c.); emergence and functioning of their legal successor, the Vatican State (early XX – XXI c.). On the basis of the analysis of the covered in the historical and legal literature issues of establishment and development of the Vatican State from the most ancient times till present, theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding and interpreting such a unique state-legal phenomenon were improved. It is first reasoned that the Vatican City State is a law-governed state where the rule of law (above all, canonical) is considered to be the highest democratic value. Although there is (for obvious reasons) no civil society in this country, the whole legal system, legislative, executive and judicial branches of power are relatively autonomous and independent from each other, though subordinate to the Supreme Pontiff; and their activities coordinated by him are aimed at the defence of human rights, regardless of their civil or hierarchical status. Therefore, it is stated that the Vatican should be included in a number of leading Western European countries whose national legal systems have become the basis for shaping the rule of law of the European Union.