Scientific legacy of Petro Rabinovych: theory and practice of the constitutional protection of human and civil rights

Abstract

The study of the scientific heritage of the outstanding Ukrainian jurist P. M. Rabinovych (1936–2023) is a topical yet insufficiently researched issue in contemporary jurisprudence. Existing scholarship has focused primarily on his achievements in legal methodology, general jurisprudence, the philosophy of law, comparative law, and the general theory of human rights and their international standards. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to descript scientist’s contribution to the theory and practice of the constitutional protection of human and civil rights. Using historical, systemic, and comparative methods of analysis, the study demonstrates that P. M. Rabinovych made significant contributions not only to general jurisprudence but also to constitutional law theory. His contribution to constitutional doctrine lies primarily in the development of a methodological framework and a comprehensive conceptual and terminological apparatus for the theory of the rule of law, constitutional legality, constitutional human and civil rights and freedoms, and their legal guarantees. He also elaborated an original social-needs-based concept of human rights, as well as of their legal protection and legitimate limitation. The considerable practical significance of the scholarly work of the founder of the Lviv School of Human Rights Theory lies in the fact that his doctrinal conclusions have been directly and explicitly reflected in at least five legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which have, in turn, been reiterated in numerous subsequent decisions of the Court. In addition, his ideas have been indirectly reflected in at least five legal positions developed by the Court. The enduring value of an outstanding legal scholar’s conceptual framework lies in its heuristic potential and its capacity to generate new lines of inquiry, both on the basis of the methodological approaches it employs and through their further development and renewal. One particularly promising direction for such renewal would be the elaboration of theoretical and sociological strategies of legal research that move beyond the traditional dichotomies of materialism versus idealism, sociological objectivism versus subjectivism, and nominalism versus realism, instead seeking to complement and synthesise these approaches. Keywords: Petro Rabinovych, Lviv School of Human Rights Theory, human dignity, human and civil rights, constitutional legality, rule of law, legal certainty, direct effect of the constitution, direct application of the constitution.