In the context of modern development and transformation of the legal system of Ukraine, increased attention to the issues of human rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, national identity and legal integration, understanding the specifics of the formation and development of the legal consciousness of the Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine is of particular importance. The above-mentioned issues are significant in the context of a general theoretical understanding of legal consciousness as a multidimensional socio-legal phenomenon, which reflects the level of perception of law, legal values, principles of justice, legality, reasonableness, responsibility and law and order by a certain social community. Legal consciousness is not only an element of the legal system of society, but also an important factor in lawmaking, law implementation and legal behavior of subjects of social relations. In this context, the study of the legal consciousness of the Crimean Tatar people as a specific form of collective legal consciousness, formed under the influence of unique historical experience, ethno-cultural features and legal traditions, the formation of which took place under the influence of the interaction of customary law, religious and legal norms of the Islamic tradition, elements of state administration during the Crimean Khanate period, the development of the legal system of independent Ukraine, etc., acquires special scientific significance.
The relevance is also due to modern geopolitical challenges associated with the ongoing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, because it is the Crimean Tatar people who have found themselves
among the social groups whose rights and freedoms have been most systematically restricted under the conditions of the occupation regime. The persecution of representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, the restriction of their freedom of speech, political participation, cultural expression and other rights actualizes the need for a comprehensive study of the features of their legal worldview and the mechanisms of transformation of legal consciousness in conditions of war and occupation, which will contribute to the improvement of state policy in the field of protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.
In addition, the relevance of the study is determined by the need for a comprehensive understanding of international legal standards in the field of protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in order to adapt national legislation to the legislation of the European Union within the framework of Ukraine's European integration course, the development of democratic institutions and the strengthening of legal statehood. Taking into account such experience is important for Ukraine in view of the legislative recognition of the Crimean Tatar people as an indigenous people of Ukraine and the need to form a holistic effective model of legal support for their status, rights and guarantees.
The purpose of the dissertation research is a comprehensive analysis of the features of the formation and development of the legal consciousness of the Crimean Tatar people, determining its role in the functioning of the legal system of Ukraine in order to increase the effectiveness of social integration of Ukrainian society, mechanisms for ensuring human rights and harmonization of interethnic relations.
The empirical basis of the dissertation is doctrinal sources, namely: monographs; dissertation research and their abstracts; professional scientific articles in various fields of law and humanitarian disciplines, abstracts of reports and materials of scientific conferences on the topic of the dissertation. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of regulatory legal acts regulating relations in the field of indigenous peoples and national minorities in Ukraine was carried out.
In the process of studying the theoretical aspects of the dissertation topic, the author, within the framework of the problems of the peculiarities of the formation and development of the legal consciousness of the Crimean Tatar people, analyzed the historical evolution of ideas about legal consciousness as a special form of social consciousness. As a result of the study, it was established that historically legal consciousness developed as a complex system of ideas about law, in which moral, social and legal principles are harmoniously combined. At the same time, the formation of legal consciousness is determined by the interaction of individual rights and obligations with public interests and institutions of power, as well as the constant understanding of justice and legality.
