Unity of judicial practice. Experience of the European Union countries

The article analyses legal mechanisms aimed at ensuring the unity of judicial practice, such as the specialization of courts and judge, prejudicial effect. The objective of this study is to conduct a legal analysis of the functioning of these mechanisms in Ukraine and within the frameworks of existing legal system models in the European Union countries. The author examines the impact of judicial specialization on the stability of judicial practice. The principles of applying the prejudicial effect in Ukraine are explored, along with the role of Supreme Court rulings in achieving judicial unity. In the course of the analysis particular attention is given to the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and its role in shaping the unity of judicial practice in Ukraine. The role of the Supreme Court as the highest judicial authority and its decisions in the countries of the European Union are analysed. The conclusions of the Consultative Council of European Judges regarding court specialization are presented, as well as the procedure for the specialization of judges based on case categories within the Ukrainian judicial system. The author references the ratione materiae principle (Latin: «in view of the subject matter»), which underpins the specialization of courts and judges and serves as a crucial mechanism ensuring legal certainty and promoting uniform approaches within the same category of cases. Examples from Ukrainian case law demonstrate the necessity of continuously improving the mechanisms of judicial specialization for both courts and judges as well as the elimination of legislative gaps as they emerge. The following instruments for addressing legislative gaps are examined: amendments to existing legislation and new legal conclusions of the Supreme Court. The issue of the retroactive effect of the Supreme Court’s new legal conclusions is raised, along with their impact on legal certainty, the protection of human rights, and overall public trust in the judicial system. The functioning of judicial specialization mechanisms and the precedential effect of court decisions is analysed through examples from selected EU member states.