Місце і роль копного судочинства у формуванні засад доброчесності та доступу до правосуддя в Україні (XIV - XVIII ст.)

Abstract

The article analyzes the place and role of the kopny court in the formation of the principles of integrity and access to justice in Ukraine (14th–18th centuries). It is noted that in Ukrainian villages during the 14th–18th centuries. judicial proceedings were carried out by kopny courts. The kopny court was a public body of a neighboring association of rural territorial communities. It carried out judicial proceedings in civil and criminal cases, investigated crimes, reconciled the guilty with the victim, and executed its decisions on Ukrainian lands in the 14th–18th centuries. It is shown that the composition of the kopny court consisted of kopnyki, that is, kopny judges (court men) and the community present at the trial. The kopny judges knew Ukrainian customary law well, had a keen sense of justice and responsibility, were distinguished by high moral purity, honesty, lived honestly, adhered to the rules of morality and customary law. Only they had the right to make a decision in the case. It is emphasized that the historical experience of the organization and activity of kopny courts in Ukraine testifies to the presence of democratic traditions of the administration of justice among the Ukrainian people. National historical legal experience testifies that access to justice and the integrity of judges are characteristic features of Ukrainian law, which were formed and functioned on Ukrainian lands for centuries. the experience of kopny judicial activity in Ukraine during the XIV–XVIII centuries. It follows that for a modern Ukrainian judge, integrity should be perceived as his professional independence, honesty, impartiality, incorruptibility, conscientiousness, adherence to ethical norms and demonstration of impeccable behavior in professional activities and personal life, as well as in relation to which there are no doubts about the legality of the sources of origin of property, compliance of the standard of living of the judge or his family members with the declared income, etc. Access to justice and integrity of a judge are also important in the development of civil society and a democratic, legal state.