The principle of «stare decisis» in the Ukrainian legal system: theoretical and legal foundations and practical challenges

The article carries out a comprehensive theoretical and legal study of the principle of «stare decisis» and the features of its implementation in the Ukrainian legal system, which is relevant in the context of European integration processes and harmonization of national legislation with modern world trends. The doctrinal principles of judicial precedent are analyzed, which, despite Ukraine’s formal belonging to the Romano-Germanic legal family, is gradually gaining increasing importance as a tool for ensuring the unity of judicial practice and legal certainty. The etymology of the principle of «stare decisis», which comes from the Latin expression «Stare decisis et non quieta movere» («to stand on what is decided and not to disturb the peace»), as well as the modern interpretation of this principle in legal doctrine, are revealed. The article examines in detail the normative consolidation of the principle of «stare decisis» in Ukrainian legislation, in particular through the provisions of Part 6 of Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine «On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges», which establish the binding nature of the Supreme Court’s conclusions on the application of legal norms for all subjects of power and the need for their consideration by other courts. The semantic load of the term «consider» in the context of the binding nature of the legal positions of the Supreme Court for lower courts is analyzed, and attention is focused on the systemic interpretation of this norm in combination with the provisions of procedural codes. The role of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of law in Ukraine, the binding nature of which is enshrined in the Law of Ukraine «On the Execution of Decisions and Application of the Practice of the European Court of Human Rights», is separately considered. Practical examples of the formation of precedent practice by the Supreme Court in specific categories of cases are given, demonstrating the actual implementation of elements of precedent law into the domestic legal system. The article identifies the main challenges to the implementation of the principle of «stare decisis» in the Ukrainian legal system: the difficulty of determining which legal position of the Supreme Court should be followed by lower courts in the event of disagreements; the impossibility of a full analysis of a large number of Supreme Court decisions by lower courts; the potential threat to the independence of judges of the first and appellate courts; the inconsistency of the legal positions of the Supreme Court itself; the formal citation of ECHR decisions without due relevance to the circumstances of the case. Based on the analysis, specific measures are proposed to improve the mechanism for applying judicial precedent in Ukraine, in particular: legislative definition of the status of case law as a source of law; development of criteria for motivated departure of lower courts from the legal positions of the Supreme Court; improvement of the Base of Legal Positions of the Supreme Court; creation of a mechanism for monitoring the appropriateness of using ECHR decisions in national court decisions. It is concluded that a systematic solution to the above problems will contribute to increasing the efficiency of justice, ensuring the unity of judicial practice and strengthening the rule of law in Ukraine in the context of European integration processes.