FEATURES OF THE LEGAL STATUS OF BUSINESS ENTITIES SUBJECT TO ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL PROTECTION IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. In the current climate, ensuring effective administrative and legal protection for businesses is one of the key priorities of state policy in the context of European integration and the reform of the public administration system. The system of bodies responsible for providing administrative and legal protection to businesses is characterised by a complex structure and the heterogeneity of their legal status. Current legislation defines the powers of individual bodies in a piecemeal manner, which leads to overlapping competences, a lack of coordination in their activities, and hinders the effective performance of the functions entrusted to them. There is also no unified approach in the academic literature to defining the characteristics of the legal status of entities providing administrative and legal protection for businesses and their classification. This has a negative impact on the development of a comprehensive mechanism for the administrative and legal protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities. In view of the above, a comprehensive study of the characteristics of the legal status of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business in Ukraine is relevant and of significant theoretical and practical importance.

Purpose. The aim of this article is to examine the characteristics of the legal status of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business in Ukraine, to clarify the specifics of their administrative and legal position, to define their role within the mechanism of administrative and legal protection of business, and to justify the author’s classification of such entities.

Methods. To achieve the stated aim, a range of general scientific and specialised legal methods of scientific inquiry were applied. The formal-legal method was used to analyse the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine and other regulatory legal acts that define the legal status of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business. The systemic-structural method was applied to study the system of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business, to determine their place within the public administration mechanism, and to establish the interrelationships between them. The functional method made it possible to identify the specific features of the exercise of administrative and legal powers by individual entities in the sphere of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of business entities. Using the comparative legal method, academic approaches to understanding the administrative and legal status and classification of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business were analysed. Methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and generalisation were applied to formulate conclusions and develop the author’s classification of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business.

Results. This study analyses academic approaches to defining the administrative and legal status of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business and establishes that there is no single approach to understanding its content and structural elements. The author’s definition of the administrative and legal status of such entities is substantiated, and its main components are identified. The system of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business has been examined, and the characteristics of their legal status and administrative and legal powers have been described. It has been established that the specific nature of the legal status of these entities is determined by their varying scope of competence, functional purpose and role within the mechanism of administrative and legal protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities. The author proposes a classification of entities involved in the administrative and legal protection of business according to the nature of the administrative and legal powers they exercise, which allows for a comprehensive reflection of their role within the system of public administration.

Conclusion. It is proposed to classify the bodies responsible for the administrative and legal protection of business according to the nature of the administrative and legal powers they exercise, identifying the following groups: 1) bodies responsible for shaping state policy in the field of business protection – bodies that define the principles of state policy, formulate the regulatory framework for entrepreneurial activity and establish guarantees for business protection (the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine); 2) bodies responsible for the organisational implementation of administrative and legal protection of business – bodies that ensure the implementation of state policy, coordinate the activities of other bodies, organise the implementation of state programmes
for the development of entrepreneurship and ensure the functioning of the administrative mechanism for business protection (the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, local state administrations and local self-government bodies); 3) bodies responsible for regulatory, licensing and support services for business activities – bodies whose activities are aimed at creating favourable conditions for the conduct of economic activities through the exercise of powers relating to permits, registration, licensing, information provision and advice (the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, local authorities and other bodies providing administrative services to business entities); 4) bodies responsible for monitoring and supervising compliance with the law in the sphere of economic activity – bodies that exercise state control over compliance with legislation in the fields of entrepreneurship, financial discipline, taxation, customs, competition law and other areas of economic activity (the State Tax Service of Ukraine, the State Customs Service of Ukraine, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine and other supervisory bodies); 5) bodies responsible for the administrative and legal protection of businesses – bodies exercising preventive, jurisdictional and law enforcement powers aimed at preventing offences and protecting property rights, economic security and the legitimate interests of business entities (the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine and other law enforcement agencies within the scope of their administrative competence); 6) bodies responsible for restoring the infringed rights of business entities – bodies whose activities are aimed at restoring the infringed rights of business entities through the enforcement of court and other decisions, as well as through the application of other administrative and legal mechanisms for restoring infringed rights (bodies of the State Enforcement Service of Ukraine); 7) specialised bodies for the protection of business – the protection of business entities’ rights is one of their main areas of activity (the Business Ombudsman Council, chambers of commerce and industry, civil society organisations, as well as other institutions established for the out-of-court protection of entrepreneurs’ rights and for facilitating interaction between business and public authorities).