Almanac of law. Issue 17 (2026), pages 337–344.

DOI: 10.33663/2524-017X-2026-17-337-344

Kryvytskyi Y. V.
Constitutional reform as a factor in the transformation of the mechanism of law implementation in Ukraine

The article summarizes, expands and theoretically substantiates scientific knowledge about constitutional reform as a factor in the transformation of the mechanism of law implementation in Ukraine and clarifies its place within the structure of law reform. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to rethink the role of constitutional reform not only as an institutional and political process, but primarily as a legal phenomenon that affects the normative foundations of the legal system and determines the parameters of its functioning.

The doctrinal approaches to defining the nature of constitutional reform in modern constitutional scholarship are analysed. It is established that in a significant part of academic discourse constitutional reform is interpreted mainly through the prism of changes in the constitutional order, the institutional architecture of public authority and the forms of exercising the constituent power of the people. At the same time, such an institutional perspective does not fully reveal the legal essence of constitutional reform as a phenomenon directly connected with the qualitative renewal of constitutional law and the reconfiguration of its normative content.

The correlation between constitutional reform, constitutional and law reform, and law reform is clarified. It is substantiated that constitutional reform constitutes a key component of constitutional and law reform as a sectoral type of law reform. While constitutional and law reform is aimed at the systemic renewal of constitutional law as a leading branch of the national legal system, constitutional reform primarily concerns changes to its normative core — the Constitution as the Basic Law of the state. Therefore, constitutional reform is understood as a form of significant qualitative transformation of constitutional law intended to improve its regulatory capacity and ensure its coherence with democratic principles and the rule of law.

The article proves that the impact of constitutional reform on the mechanism of law implementation has a normative and functional character. Changes in constitutional principles, standards and guarantees predetermine the transformation of law-making priorities, the limits and methods of law enforcement, and the functioning of institutional and procedural safeguards for the protection of human rights and freedoms. The renewal of the constitutional normative framework inevitably leads to adjustments in the hierarchy of legal norms, the scope of discretion of public authorities and the practical forms of realisation of subjective rights.

Constitutional reform is thus considered as a normatively conditioned and socially legitimised process which, through the reformatting of constitutional law, influences all elements of the mechanism of law implementation and determines the direction, limits and effectiveness of law reform in Ukraine. In this sense, constitutional reform should be viewed not as a derivative of political or administrative transformations, but as their normative precondition and a systemic legal factor shaping the evolution of the national legal order.

Keywords: constitutional reform, constitutional and law reform, law reform, Constitution, Basic Law, mechanism of law implementation, law-making, law enforcement, constitutional law.

References

1. Kampo V. Ukrainski reformy: polityka i pravo: populiar. narys. Kyiv: Mizhnarodna Fundatsiia Vyborchykh System, 1995. 29 s. (in Ukr.).
2. Savchyn V. Konstytutsiina reforma. Mala entsyklopediia konstytutsiinoho prava / Yu. L. Boshytskyi ta in. / Za zah. red prof. Yu. L. Boshytskoho. Kyiv: Kondor-Vydavnytstvo, 2012. S. 135–137 (in Ukr.).
3. Lemak Tekhnolohiia konstytutsiinoi reformy: osnovni vymohy yevropeiskoho dosvidu dlia Ukrainy. Pravo Ukrainy. 2016. № 6. S. 44–51 (in Ukr.).
4. Kryvytskyi Yu. V. Metodolohiia doslidzhennia pravovoi reformy: sproba opysu hnoseolohichnoi mozaiky. Naukovyi visnyk Uzhhorodskoho natsionalnoho universytetu. Seriia Pravo. 2025. Vyp. 90. Ch. 1. S. 85–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24144/2307-3322.2025.90.1.12 (in Ukr.).
5. Nalyvaiko P., Beliaieva M. V. Tlumachnyi terminolohichnyi slovnyk z konstytutsiinoho prava (Explanatory Terminological Dictionary on Constitutional law). 2-e vyd. dopov. Zaporizhzhia: Dniprovskyi metalurh, 2010. 304 s. (in Ukr.).
6. Bobrovnyk V., Varych O. H. Konstytutsiina reforma. Mala entsyklopediia teorii derzhavy ta prava / Za red. prof. Yu. L. Boshytskoho. Kyiv: Kondor-Vydavnytstvo, 2012. S. 126 (in Ukr.).
7. Mykhnenko M., Makarenko E. M., Kravchenko S. O. Upravlinnia yakistiu suspilnykh reform: navch. posib. Kyiv: NADU, 2009. 192 s. (in Ukr.).
8. Krusian A. Suchasnyi ukrainskyi konstytutsionalizm: monohrafiia. Kyiv: Yurinkom Inter, 2010. 560 s. (in Ukr.).
9. Kolodii M. Konstytutsiina reforma v Ukraini: poniattia, etapy ta holovni napriamky: dopovid. Kyiv: NAPrN Ukrainy, Kyivskyi rehionalnyi tsentr, 2010. 27 s. (in Ukr.).
10. Orzikh M. Konstytutsiina modernizatsiia ta reformuvannia: metodolohiia spivvidnoshennia ta naukovo-prykladne znachennia. Pravo Ukrainy. № 8. S. 43–49 (in Ukr.).
11. Savchyn M. V. Konstytutsionalizm i pryroda konstytutsii: teoriia i praktyka realizatsii: avtoref. dys. … d-ra yuryd. nauk: 12.00.02. Kyiv, 2013. 42 s. (in Ukr.).
12. Ahafonova V. Konstytutsiina reforma v Ukraini: mekhanizmy realizatsii ta problemy efektyvnosti: monohrafiia. Kyiv: Instytut zakonodavstva Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy, 2016. 416 s. (in Ukr.).
13. Shamrai V. Do problemy spivvidnoshennia katehorii «konstytutsiino-pravova» ta «konstytutsiina» reformy: postanovka problemy. Visnyk Mariupolskoho derzhavnoho universytetu. Seriia: Pravo. 2016. Vyp. 12. S. 60–66. URL: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Vmdu_pr_2016_12_10  (in Ukr.).
14. Shamrai V. Konstytutsiine pravo v umovakh hlobalizatsii ta mizhderzhavnoi intehratsii: teoretyko-metodolohichnyi aspekt : monohrafiia. Odesa: Feniks, 2018. 360 s. (in Ukr.).

Дата першого надходження рукопису до видання: 28.02.2026
Дата прийнятого до друку рукопису після рецензування: 09.04.2026
Дата публікації: 30.04.2026