“Rights and Liberties” in Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution through the Prism of Renaissance Interpretations of Justice

Abstract

Such an outstanding historical monument of Ukrainian state-building as the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk of 1710 has been studied in the context of the traditions of European constitutionalism and its influence on the process of national state-building of the first half of the XVIII century. The author has determined the role of such a category of natural law as “justice” in its formation, which became pervasive in the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk by guiding its content and spirit. Despite the more than 300-year history of this act, there are still discussions among scholars and researchers about its political and legal classification and the source base, in particular not only the contractual experience of the Hetmanate period, but also the influence of political, legal and philosophical thought that was developed since ancient times. There was an attempt to determine the grounds for protecting the “rights and liberties” of the Ukrainian people by tracing the influence of the ancient heritage of Plato and its revival in the Renaissance era, Protestant doctrine of the Reformation period, which lays the groundwork for further identification of ontological and praxeological problems of Ukrainian constitutionalism. The fundamental methodological approaches were axiological, comparative and historical, hermeneutic. Theoretical basis of the study consisted of regulatory legal documents, scientific publications and research, information materials. The Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, being a remarkable achievement of political and legal thought of the early. XVIII century, has demonstrated the desire of its authors and the people to establish the principles of constitutionalism, law and order over the ideas of absolutism, which prevailed in Europe at that time. In this regard, the Constitution makes an unequivocal choice against the Russian autocracy, which was canceled previous agreements, in favor of the protection and restoration of violated rights and liberties, and as a consequence – the construction of an independent Ukraine. It laid down a progressive idea of ​​expressing the aspirations and needs of the whole nation, which shows the high level of legal and philosophical culture of the Ukrainian elite of that time.

Keywords

• natural right
• justice
• pylyp orlyk
• constitutionalism
• equality
• autocracy
• plato
• protestanism.