The EU judiciary: epistemological principles of functioning and development

The article introduces the results of a theoretical analysis of the available research on the EU judiciary. Based on the analysis of the development and formation of the EU judiciary, it is proved that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) should be understood as the object of the historiography of studies of the EU judiciary in its historical progress, beginning with the Court of Justice of the European Communities, as a single object which as a result of functioning and under the influence of the creation of the integration union, acquired the further development of its form and content. It is established that the research of EU institutions in national science began in the 1990s. By this time, the EU judiciary and the principles of its functioning had been studied by foreign scholars whose works had become the basis for the formation of national scientific thought. After determining the periodization of the development of national scientific thought on the organization and functioning of the EU judiciary, three stages of the formation and development of scientific research of the CJEU have been distinguished. Based on the results of the analysis of the available research, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Lviv legal schools have been singled out, the representatives of which researched on certain aspects of the functioning and development of the EU judiciary. The content of researches and the volume of cognition of the EU judiciary have been analyzed, as a result of which the specificity of methodological foundations in different schools is presented. Therefore, the conclusion that the object of cognition is interdisciplinary is made. It is proved that there is no comprehensive study of the EU judiciary among the publications available. The analysis of the research has shown that there are different approaches among scholars to the study of the CJEU. The experience of the research findings is valuable for the understanding the multidimensional nature of the legal nature of the EU judiciary. The examples of the Republic of Poland and of the United Kingdom show that the functioning of the CJEU may have different impact on the national legal system. Attention is drawn to the importance of the proper functioning of the constitutional judicial body and of the national judiciary as a guarantee of the sovereignty of States in their relations with the EU. The dynamics of the development of integration processes, of the principles of the organization, and of the functioning of the judiciary in the EU is pointed out. It influences the need for introducing a new stage of development of national science in this field. The analysis of the available research shows that there are only a few complex studies on certain aspects of the functioning of the EU judiciary. At the same time, in its practice, the CJEU continues to form new acquis communautaire for the EU legal system that have not been studied in national science yet. It is proved that examining the legal nature of the EU judiciary and its case-law will facilitate the development of integration processes in Ukraine. And the study of the principles of its organization and of its functioning will have an impact on improving the legal system of Ukraine towards promoting democratic values.