DECISIONS OF THE EU COURT AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article considers the status of the Court of Justice as one of the most effective legal instruments of European integration. It is determined that the Court of Justice is a strictly functional specialized institution of non-political nature. The article considers the main approaches to the description of the structure of the judicial system of the European Union and suggests using the integrated approach, according to which the judicial system of the EU is a complex non-hierarchical formation and each of its elements is necessary to achieve the goals of the EU integration. The spheres of jurisdiction of the Court are outlined and it is confirmed that the external forms of its implementation are the acts of the Court. The special legal nature of the acts of the Court of Justice of the EU, which directly affect the process of the EU accession, is characterized. The interpretation of constituent treaties by the Court of Justice goes beyond secondary law. In its decisions, the Court of Justice has formulated a number of legal principles that have normative value. The decision of the Court of Justice has a de facto precedential character, since the Court itself can use its previous decisions to justify new decisions, although it can sometimes change its position. The national courts of the EU member states justify their decisions by previously adopted acts of the Court of Justice and cannot change them. The significance of ECJ decisions for Ukraine, that is aspiring the EU accession, has been substantiated. The question of the application of EU Court decisions in Ukraine arose in 2014 after the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. The Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine in its information letter (2014) expressed the opinion that the practice of the Court of Justice of the EU is not a source of law in Ukraine. The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court (2022) formed its position, according to which the decisions of the EU Court become a source of law for Ukraine and are to be applied in national proceedings, that will directly affect the legal system of Ukraine. The necessity to improve the knowledge of domestic lawyers, especially judges, in the field of judicial law of the European Union was noted.