The Rule of Law Principle in the Customs Law of Ukraine and the European Union. A Comparative Analysis

The paper’s goal is to present a proposal for discussion that would update the methods used in Ukrainian customs law science to interpret the meaning and relationship between legality and rule of law, as well as determine how these approaches fit into the operations of the country’s customs authorities. The paper’s goal required the use of a number of scientific cognition methods, such as historical and legal method; dialectical method; comparative method; systemic and structural method; hermeneutical method; method of analysis; method of synthesis; method of generalization, etc. The rule of law is highly valued in Ukrainian laws, law enforcement processes, and legal doctrine. However, its legal regulation in Ukrainian legislation and doctrinal legal analysis of its content and correlation with other principles of law, in particular the principle of legality, are carried out from the standpoint of legal positivism without taking into account the principles of the natural law concept of law understanding. The absence of a systematic approach to the normative and legal consolidation of the principle of the rule of law in the legislation of Ukraine led to the emergence of various options for a formal definition of its content, which significantly complicated its real knowledge. In view of the above, it is recommended to focus on developing a coherent approach to the interpretation of the content and correlation of the principles of legality and the rule of law, taking into account the principles of the natural law concept of law understanding, according to which they are correlated as part and parcel.