UDC 347.9:346.9

DOI 10.37749/2308-9636-2023-6(246)-1

T. G. Popovych,

PhD in Law, Senior Researcher, Academic Secretary,

Academician F. H. Burchak Scientific Research Institute of Private Law and Entrepreneurship

of the NALS of Ukraine

orcid.org/0000-0003-2292-4530

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL AWARENESS AND LEGAL CULTURE FOR MAKING COURT DECISIONS

Even in the conditions of war, the problem of the stability of the judicial system, the development of civil society and the democratic legal state is directly related to the development of legal consciousness and legal culture. When considering the situation in the justice system, it should be pointed out that the judge, who has to make a reasoned decision, and the parties who have to understand and accept this decision must have the appropriate level of legal thinking and legal awareness.

Modern scientists claim that legal culture is the level of mastery of legal values by the subjects of social relations, which appeared as a result of the development of society in the field of law. That is, in the event of a change in social formation, the legal basis of society, its collective and individual consciousness and culture are replaced. Therefore, in general, the construction of the judicial system, which is the basis of the rule of law, is impossible without legal awareness of the people, without their legal culture and legal awareness.

The essence of the legal culture of the judge and the participants in the judicial process should not be reduced only to the legal awareness of the citizens of the society. It is defined as a set of achievements of society, its social groups and citizens in the field of regulation of social relations, which ensures the supremacy of law in public life, i.e. the rule in public life of the legal principles of justice and humanism, the protection of human rights and freedoms, its honor and dignity, real provision the place of a person as the highest social value.

Raising the legal awareness of our entire society should serve to raise the standard of living of Ukrainian citizens, ensure business, free development of the individual, and strengthen its protection, including judicial protection.

Scientific data show that the formation of legal consciousness and legal culture in our society did not and cannot happen spontaneously, by itself. It should be the result of the active activity of society, all its citizens, including judges. The formation of legal consciousness and legal culture is influenced by the entire process of law-making, the process of implementation and application of legal norms by state bodies of Ukraine, the state of law and order, the development of legal relations, and the possibility of their protection in court.

The disclosure of the driving forces of the legal culture of society allows the research of legal culture to be brought to new frontiers, taking into account the intensive processes of interaction of national legal cultures. The importance of this problem for Ukraine is revealed by the example of adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to international norms and standards of human rights, as well as harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with normative acts of the European Union.

The main attention in the process of formation of legal consciousness and legal culture of society should still be focused on the formation of positive legal knowledge and psychological mechanisms of respect for law in the structure of legal consciousness and legal culture of an individual in each person. The successful solution of these tasks depends on many factors, but mostly on the level of organization of legal education and education of the country’s population.

The problem of legal consciousness and legal culture will be relevant for a long time, and the need for its research directly follows from the constitutional declaration of Ukraine as a state governed by the rule of law. This determines the need for the steady growth and achievement of a high level of legal culture of every citizen, every official, every judge, who are responsible for the main work in establishing Ukraine as a legal state.

Keywords: legal consciousness, legal culture, rule of law, social guarantee, court decision, rule of law, fair justice, protection of rights and legitimate interests.

 

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