Demchenko S. Constitutional and legal regulation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine

The purpose of the research by the dissertation candidate is to formulate, based on a critical analysis of the achievements of modern legal science, a conceptual generalization of the state and key features of the constitutional and legal regulation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine. In the course of the work, the dissertation candidate solved the following scientific tasks: the development of historical and legal thought on judicial indemnity was analyzed; a bibliographical review of sources was conducted, the choice of directions and subject of research was justified, the author's approach to the methodology for studying judicial indemnity as a specific constitutional and legal phenomenon was formulated; the concept and main features of judicial indemnity are revealed; the structural elements of judicial indemnity are defined and investigated; the problematic issues of constitutional and regulatory regulation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine at the current stage of development of the judicial system are highlighted; the main organizational and legal forms of implementation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine are clarified; the comparative legal aspects of the implementation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine and in certain European countries are outlined; the features of constitutional and legal liability for violation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine are revealed. The result of solving these scientific tasks was the formulation by the doctoral candidate of a comprehensive concept of constitutional and legal regulation of judicial indemnity in Ukraine. Based on a generalizing comprehensive review of sources in the field of research on the institution of judicial indemnity, it was found that this legal phenomenon arouses interest among scholars regarding its legal nature, its place and role in the system of ensuring the proper functioning of judges, its impact on the procedure for the formation and functioning of the judicial corps, the exercise of its functions and powers, in particular the main function - the function of justice, as well as its relationship with other guarantees of judicial activity. Meanwhile, today there are no unified doctrinal approaches to the assessment of judicial indemnity, as well as an established conceptual and legal vision of its state and prospects for its development in various legal systems. It was found that, compared to foreign studies, the development of the issue of judicial indemnity in Ukrainian constitutional and legal science is at a low doctrinal level. A certain increase in interest in the topic of judicial indemnity in Ukrainian constitutional and legal science was due to the official legal consolidation of the European vector of strategic state development of Ukraine and the implantation of the institute of judicial indemnity into the Constitution of Ukraine (2016). The dissertation proves that practically all modern democratic states create institutional and legal mechanisms to ensure the independence and impartiality of courts and judges. The principle of independence consists of two elements: the institutional (organizational) and functional independence of the judiciary, as well as the independence of the judges themselves. Judicial indemnity is a component of judicial immunity, which includes the guaranteed and legally secured impossibility of being held liable for opinions expressed in the administration of justice, unless a court decision that has entered into legal force establishes the judge's guilt in abuse. A comparison of judicial indemnity and judicial immunity was conducted: common and specific features in both of these constitutional and legal phenomena were identified. This made it possible to more clearly outline the constitutional and legal nature of judicial indemnity, distinguishing it from a related legal phenomenon. The immunity of a judge does not contradict the principle of the inevitability of legal liability and is not an obstacle to holding judges liable in the event of their committing a crime. This is due to the purpose of judicial indemnity, which protects a judge from prosecution for his decisions and from influencing the resolution of cases considered by him. The structure of judicial indemnity and its main elements are analyzed. Based on a comprehensive analysis of modern constitutional and legal doctrines, it is shown that judicial indemnity has a constitutional and legal nature: its foundations are enshrined at the level of the Fundamental Law of Ukraine in accordance with the concepts of judicial independence and judicial immunity.