До питання юридичної відповідальності надавачів соціальних послуг за законодавством України

The article examines the issue of legal liability in the context of individuals exercising their right to social services, as well as potential legislative approaches to its regulation. It emphasises that social legislation predominantly relies on general referential norms, employing legal constructs such as: «persons guilty of violating the requirements of legislation on... ‘social services’, etc., shall bear liability in accordance with the law,» without specifying the grounds, types, or measures of such liability. The lack of sector-specific developments in this area is highlighted. A critical analysis is provided of the statutory obligations of social service providers, focusing on the presence of a legal mechanism to ensure their fulfilment. It is emphasised that some of these obligations are not mandatory in nature. It is noted that the failure of a socially obligated entity to fulfil its duties should enable the recipient of a social service to seek protection of their infringed rights, including through the application of legal liability mechanisms. It is demonstrated that the current legislation does not provide for this possibility with effective measures of legal liability. The necessity of introducing effective state control in the social sphere is underscored, along with extending the norms on state supervision (control) in the field of economic activity to the legal relations involved in the provision of social services. The grounds for legal liability in the context of social service provision are delineated. It is argued that, for officials authorised in the field of social service provision, liability arises from inaction in organising the provision of social services; for employees of social service providers, it stems from violations of legislation governing social services. The need for a precise and well-defined legislative framework specifying the obligations of social service providers is highlighted. A list of actions that should be considered violations of legislation in the sphere of social service provision, and which should be explicitly enshrined in the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services», is proposed. Іn particular: provision of social services without registration in the Register of providers and recipients of social services; provision by a legal entity/ natural person – an entrepreneur of unreliable information about compliance with the criteria for the provision of social services and/or the provision of social services without complying with the criteria for the provision of social services; administration/executive bodies of village, settlement, city councils, an employee of a social service provider regarding the organization and provision of social services to a person in difficult life circumstances.