Gaps in the law: theoretical and applied aspect
Authors: Bohinich Oleg 
Published: December 2024

In Ukraine, the new Law of Ukraine «On Law-Making Activities» recently entered into force. A systematic analysis of the said Law indicates the presence of certain shortcomings that can seriously complicate its implementation in the work of both competent state bodies and in the activities of individuals and legal entities. We are talking about such a category as gaps in the law. The definition of gaps proposed in the last one and the mechanisms for overcoming them do not allow to fully solve the indicated problems of law-making and law enforcement. In particular, it is about the mechanisms of implementation of legal norms.
In this regard, the purpose of the study is to find mechanisms for the implementation of such a structural element of the legal system as a rule of law.

The research methods are the systematic method, the method of comparative analysis, and the formal-legal method. As a result of the use of the mentioned methods, it was established that consideration of the problem of implementation of law must be separated from the problem of implementation of legal norms. If under the implementation of law it is necessary to understand all the processes and means of legal regulation, then under the implementation of the norm of law it is necessary to understand another toolkit, namely the mechanism of its implementation, which diﬀers from the mechanisms of implementation of law. As a general rule, it is about the realization of their material types.

The mechanism of implementation of the material norm of the law, in turn, depends on the form of implementation of the law. In legal relations, where authorizing, binding and prohibiting norms are implemented, the mechanism of implementation of the material norm of law is material-procedural (procedural). In legal relations, where the implementation of such norms requires the involvement of law enforcement tools, such a mechanism is called procedural. In turn, the procedural mechanism is jurisdictional and general (non-jurisdictional). Jurisdiction is traditionally divided into criminal- procedural, civil-procedural, economic-procedural. Recently, administrative- procedural (administrative-procedural), constitutional-procedural ones have been added to them. In addition to the above, the general procedural mechanism accompanies almost all other forms of activity of state bodies. Among them are law- making, supervisory and regulatory.

In the light of the above, we will consider some mechanisms (procedures) for the implementation of the material norm of law. In a case not related to law enforcement, there are several options for appropriate procedures to implement the model of behavior laid down in the disposition of the legal norm. The first: such a procedure is simultaneously contained in the article of the normative legal act, which enshrines this norm. The second: the necessary procedure is not contained alongside the norm of substantive law in one article, but in another part of this normative legal act. Third: procedural norms are found in other legal acts. The latter are mostly characterized by such a name as order. In contrast to the mentioned options, there is another one — a complex or hybrid one, which provides for the presence of procedural norms both in the normative legal act itself and in the external one, which are simultaneously necessary for the implementation of the material norms of the law.

Summarizing the results of the conducted research, we can state the following. First, the regulatory role of legal norms is performed only in relation to each other, for example, material and procedural norms. Secondly, the concept of «gaps in the law» includes cases of lack of mechanisms for the implementation of legal norms. Thirdly, the mechanism of implementation of the law diﬀers from the mechanisms of implementation of the rule of law. Among the latter: a) the presence of relevant procedural (procedural) norms in one article of the normative legal act; b) the necessary procedure is contained in another article of the same normative legal act; c) procedural rules are found in other legal acts; d) procedural norms are contained both in the normative legal act itself and in a third-party one.

Key words: gaps in the law, mechanisms for the implementation of the law, mechanisms for the implementation of legal norms.