CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE LEGAL PERSONALITY OF PARTICIPANTS IN LAW-MAKING ACTIVITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF EUROINTEGRATION DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINE

Abstract

In the article the essence and specific features of the legal personality of participants in law- making activities in the context of European integration and the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to European Union law were defined. It is established that Ukraine’s European integration course entails the transformation of the institutional mechanisms of law-making and the determination of the legal personality of participants in law-making activities, their rights and obligations in the context of the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to European Union law, and their legal and functional capacity to participate in the law-making process, exercise powers, bear responsibility, and ensure the quality of rule-making in accordance with European standards. It is substantiated that each of the groups of participants in law-making activities defined by legislation (subjects of law-making activity, subjects of the right of legislative initiative, subjects ensuring law-making activities, and interested persons) has a different degree of participation in and influence on the rule-making process. Nevertheless, all of them are vested with specific rights and obligations that constitute their legal personality. It is established that, in the context of law-making, legal personality reflects the legislatively prescribed capacity of a participant in law-making activities to be a bearer of rights and obligations in the process of planning, drafting, discussing, and adopting normative legal acts; to exercise powers related to the coordination, expert examination, and implementation of normative legal acts; and to bear legal responsibility for compliance with procedures and standards and for ensuring the quality of law-making decisions. Attention is drawn to the fact that the European integration vector of state development requires participants in law-making activities to possess specific powers with respect to the drafting of normative legal acts necessary for the implementation of European Union norms; ensuring the conformity of draft laws with the provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union; conducting legal expert examinations of draft normative legal acts to assess their compliance with Ukraine’s obligations in the field of European integration and with European Union law; and evaluating the effectiveness of implemented norms in the course of their application. It is concluded that in the context of fulfilling Ukraine’s international obligations in the field of European integration and adapting national legislation to the legislation of the European Union, the conceptualization of the legal personality of participants in law-making activity is an important element of the effective implementation of the state’s European integration course.