The Role of Legal Certainty Principle in Provision of Access to Justice in Ukraine in Wartime

Abstract

Background: The paper offers the analysis of implementation of legal certainty principle and access to justice in Ukraine. Both are regarded in connection to the rule of law principle; their coordination is shown in cases when the application of rule of law is required to patch the holes of imperfect judicial system facing the challenges of the ongoing war. Methods: The methods of legal reasoning and analysis are used to present the main approaches to legal certainty principle as well as to the access to justice. Additionally, with the help of comparative method their meaning and influence on the legal practice are established. The method of analogy is used to predict the possible solutions in order to improve access to justice in Ukraine. Results and Conclusions: Legal certainty is an element of the rule of law, it provides predictability in legal regulation, the clarity of legal norms, and demands the propriate way of legal acts enforcement as well as prohibits retroactivity. It challenges respect to the legitimate expectations and provides stability in legal regulation. The improvement in the application of the right to access to justice is beneficial for the legal certainty and vice versa. When legal certainty is violated due to the gap in legislation, unclarity of legal norms or controversy of legislative provisions and violated rights of the claimant could be restored, if the right of access to court is fully guaranteed. It is stated that res judicata, a requirement for legal certainty is a demand that is also common to access to justice.