How Justice Ministry regulates Ukrainian legislation: main principles
Government bodies are vast mechanisms designed to safeguard citizens' interests across various societal spheres. The legal framework is even more extensive, comprising nearly a thousand laws and tens of thousands of regulatory acts.
Have you ever considered the scale and how, even amid war, the mechanism called "the state" functions?
One of the overarching criteria here is a systematic approach. This ensures balanced and dynamic functioning of individual elements, including executive bodies, local self-government, service providers, and citizen support services.
In other words, all elements must interact harmoniously.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has a direct legal influence on this system. One of its primary responsibilities is the legal assessment of the legitimacy and expediency of the entire structure of government bodies.
Moreover, when the Ministry of Justice conducts a legal assessment of an act from a specific ministry, it essentially "assigns" an objective place for that act within the comprehensive legal system and guarantees its impact on societal relations.
This approach inherently involves reconciling two tasks. First, it assesses how a new act affects existing legislation. Second, it evaluates how societal relations change as a result. These aspects are interconnected and complementary.
What does the Ministry of Justice consider in this work?
Firstly, it ensures an objective hierarchy of legislative acts. The goal is not just to arrange acts by their legal force but to prevent legal collisions.
For example, a resolution by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should not amend or alter a norm established by law. To avoid such cases, the Law of Ukraine "On Legislative Activity" was adopted. It essentially establishes the fundamental "rules" of hierarchy for various types of legislative acts and laws.
Additionally, it is crucial to consider the intersectoral nature of relations. Regulation in this context is governed by fundamentally different legislation. Relations in classical private law cannot be regulated by administrative orders. This would not only cause inconveniences but also create a non-functional legal form, disrupt the system, and affect the state mechanism's operation.
The effectiveness of legislative provisions is also a criterion of systemic integrity. Legislation in a state cannot be ineffective. The Ministry of Justice addresses this issue as well.
Effectiveness is achieved through an objective and clear understanding of societal relations and the selection of an adequate legal form of regulation.
By defining the criteria for evaluating normative acts of relevant ministries, the Ministry of Justice essentially "critiques" what can and cannot be done.
The Constitution guarantees a clear delineation of powers among initiators of legislative changes. For instance, if the management of state property is exclusively under the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Property Fund of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice will never approve such an act from another body.
These are just a few points highlighting the importance of a systematic approach that ensures a balanced and effective state of Ukrainian legislation.
