Morozova K. Administrative and legal foundations for the organisational support of courts in Ukraine

The dissertation is devoted to a comprehensive study of the administrative and legal principles of the organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine, identifying the problems of its regulatory and organizational support and developing proposals for improving national legislation in this area. The work carries out a comprehensive historical and legal analysis of the formation of the subjects of organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine, covering the period from the times of Kyivan Rus to the modern stage of the functioning of the judicial system. It is determined that the modern model of organizational support of courts in Ukraine was formed as a result of the judicial reforms of 1992–2016 and is characterized by the creation of a professional court apparatus as the main subject of organizational support, the formation of the State Judicial Service of Ukraine as a specialized body in the judicial system, the functioning of the Supreme Judicial Council as a body of judicial governance with broad powers in the field of personnel and organizational support. It is established that at present the legal regulation of the organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine is carried out by acts of international law (international treaties and conventions ratified by Ukraine, and acts of "soft law") and acts of national legislation of Ukraine. A systematic analysis of the principles of organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine has been carried out and their multidimensional classification has been substantiated. The pluralistic nature of the understanding of the essence of the principles of law in modern scientific discourse and the absence of generally recognized criteria for systematizing the principles of judicial power have been established. A conclusion has been made about the complex and multifaceted nature of the functions of organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine. It has been established that the court apparatus is the primary and main subject of organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine. The distinction between the categories of "staff" and "personnel" of the court apparatus on a functional basis has been substantiated. The staff includes professionals and qualified civil servants who provide organizational support for the work of the court, and the staff includes employees who perform service functions and workers. The employees of the court apparatus are civil servants, patronage service employees, service employees and workers. The structure of the court apparatus is analyzed, which includes the head and his deputies, structural units, press service, office, accounting service, personnel management service, patronage service and court bailiffs service. It was found that the administrative and legal status of the employees of the court apparatus is characterized by complexity and heterogeneity due to the variety of categories of employees and their functional responsibilities. The features of the legal status of the head of the court apparatus and his deputies are characterized, including the specifics of appointment, dismissal, powers and responsibilities. It was determined that the system of internal and external interaction regarding the organizational support of the work of courts in Ukraine is the main element of the effective functioning of the judicial system. The author's definition of interaction regarding the organizational support of the work of courts is proposed as a systematic mutual influence of subjects of administrative authority on each other in order to achieve a common goal aimed at creating and maintaining conditions for the effective implementation of judicial proceedings. A classification of interaction by direction (external and internal) and by the range of parties has been developed. Based on the generalization of positive foreign experience in the organizational support of the work of courts, it has been established that it is characterized by a gradual separation of judicial administration functions between judges and the court staff, which contributes to increasing the efficiency of justice and its client-orientedness. Key areas for improving the organizational support of the work of courts, taking into account foreign experience, have been identified: the introduction of competitive selection of assistant judges, the creation of "rechtspfleger"-type positions, increasing the professionalism of court administrators, the release of judges from administrative functions, improving technical support and the development of electronic justice.