The Right to Social Protection: Analysis of the Case Law of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

It is indicated that the Constitution enshrines as a universal right «everyone has the right to social security», which protects people in situations of lack or reduction of means of subsistence or work capacity. The social security system requires reform. The reform should be aimed at creating accessible, transparent and accountable systems of social protection in united territorial communities that use local budgets to eliminate the problem of vulnerability of the local population. It is necessary to further strengthen the subnational revenue base, in particular through increased flexibility in the development of local taxation policies. Greater accessibility will stimulate the traditionally weak demand for social services. Ukraine’s social protection system is in need of reform to address the low coverage and access to remedies for the poorest and most socially excluded, the poor quality of social services and the lack of gender mainstreaming in social services, and the growing funding gap. Social protection is a human right as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. States have an obligation to ensure the full realisation of social protection, using the maximum of their available resources. Risks traditionally covered by existing social protection systems are covered by systems that are organised differently depending on the country: health or sickness; disability, whether from birth or acquired at work or outside work, or by age; old age; maternity and family; unemployment. The conditions for exercising the right to social protection in relation to the different risks covered can vary greatly depending on the design of the respective system. The Constitution and laws of Ukraine identify certain categories of Ukrainian citizens who require additional guarantees of social protection from the state. The decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine have stated that benefits, compensation and guarantees are a form of social assistance and a necessary component of the constitutional right to an adequate standard of living, and therefore, narrowing the content and scope of this right by adopting new laws or amending existing laws under Article 22 of the Constitution of Ukraine is not allowed. One of the elements of the rule of law is the principle of proportionality, which in the area of social protection means, in particular, that measures provided for in legal acts should be aimed at achieving a legitimate goal and should be proportionate to it.