Concept, characteristics and types of customs disputes related to assessment and collection of customs payments

This article explores the concept, characteristics, and types of customs disputes related to the assessment and collection of customs payments. The relevance of this topic arises from the critical role customs payments play in replenishing Ukraine’s state budget, which simultaneously creates risks of rights violations by customs authorities and an imbalance between public and private interests. Currently, the most effective way to protect the violated rights is referring to the court for the purpose of consideration and resolution of the respective customs disputes. It has been established that conducting scientific inquiries into the administrative and legal aspects of resolving customs disputes regarding the assessment and collection of customs payments requires a solid theoretical and legal foundation, including clear definitions of key concepts. Consequently, the article analyzes terms ranging from general ones (such as “dispute” and “legal dispute”) to more specific ones (such as “customs dispute” and “customs disputes relating to the assessment and collection of customs payments”). The article identifies the essential characteristics of the customs disputes, their causes, preconditions, and offers an original approach to classification of the customs disputes. Thus, a dialectical relationship has been traced between the concepts of “dispute”, “legal dispute”, “public-law dispute”, “administrative-law dispute”, “customs dispute” and “customs dispute regarding the assessment and collection of customs payments”. It has been established that, unlike other categories of legal disputes, a customs dispute, as a type of administrative-legal dispute, is inherently characterized by conflict, as its participants are private persons/ entities and customs authorities (structural departments of the public administration system). At the same time, it has been concluded that the concepts of “conflict” and “dispute” are not identical. A legal conflict in the customs sphere serves as a prerequisite for initiation and conduct of the proceedings in the customs dispute. Finally, based on general approaches to the characteristics and types of customs disputes and an analysis of the specific features of customs disputes related to the assessment and collection of customs payments, the author suggests his own view towards the list of characteristics and types of the customs disputes. Although the article has a more theoretical rather than a practical focus, similar scientific developments provide for a structural and meaningful impetus for further research into the pressing issues of resolving customs disputes related to the assessment and collection of customs payments.