The Ukrainian Judiciary under 21st- Century Challenges
covid-19 pandemic, access to justice, Judiciary, Rule of Law, court, the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, judicial law
Thirty years after the declaration of its independence, Ukraine, unfortunately, has not yetmanaged to modernize its legal system to a level of proper efficiency. This is largely due tothe dichotomy of the previous international strategy of our state between the two vectorsof development, the old eastern and the new western one, which actually retarded themovement forward. The contradiction between these views on the prospects of Ukraine’sdevelopment of the younger generation and the generation that continued to carry thememory of its historical past, was no less significant. Corruption is deeply rooted in thesystem of public administration and was purposefully supported by internal and externalopponents of Ukraine’s independence and overcoming these relics is a fundamental task inasserting sovereignty.Remnants of the post-Soviet legal doctrine, which preserve the defining categories ofjudicial law in an ossified form, such as ‘court’, ‘judiciary’, ‘justice’, have become a seriousobstacle to the formation of the new state and its legal system. This significantly limits theability to ensure effective legal regulation of relations connected with the administration ofjustice in the state.An overview of the theoretical and normative foundations that underlie the Ukrainianjudiciary and the justice system points to obvious gaps and inconsistencies. It is indisputablethat the modernization of the legal system of Ukraine, in particular, in the sphere of theorganization of the judiciary, requires a renewed scientific vision based on the doctrine ofjudicial law and which should attempt to combine Ukrainian traditions and the WesternEuropean viewpoint.