Classification of Constitutional human and citizens rights, freedoms and duties

Human rights are international norms that help to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. Examples of human rights are the right to freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial when charged with a crime, the right not to be tortured, and the right to engage in political activity. These rights exist in morality and in law at the national and international levels. They are addressed primarily to governments, requiring compliance and enforcement. The main sources of the contemporary conception of human rights are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948) and the many human rights documents and treaties that followed in international organizations such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, and the African Union.

Institute of constitutional rights and freedoms based on the following principles:

1) inalienability and inviolability of the rights and freedoms.

2) inexhaustibility (неисчерпаемость) of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen;

3) inadmissibility of the abolition or narrowing the scope and content of the rights and freedoms. The adoption of new laws or changes in existing laws or cancellation is not permitted by the Constitution of Ukraine distortion of the rights and freedoms;

4) equality. The Constitution of Ukraine does not allow privileges or restrictions (discrimination) on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, ethnic or social origin, property, place of residence, linguistic or other characteristics;

5) the relationship of rights and duties. Possession of rights imposes on human and civil duties to other individuals and to society.

Classification of constitutional human and citizen rights:

1) civil or personal rights (natural rights). Civil rights include: the rights to life, dignity, liberty and security of person, inviolability of the home and correspondence, non-interference in private and family life, freedom of movement, freedom of religion and ideology, freedom of the press;

2) political rights. These rights include active and passive right to vote, the right to organize and participate in political parties, public organizations and movements, the right to appeal to the authorities (the right to petition), the right of assembly, meetings and demonstrations;

3) social rights include the right to work, to rest, to social security, to a decent existence, to health;

4) economic rights. This group includes the right to property, the right to entrepreneurial activity;

5) ecological rights: right to safe for life and health conditions of human existence;

6) cultural rights include the right to education, the right to freedom of scientific, technical and artistic creation, the right to the protection of intellectual property, etc.

7) family rights is the possibility of human and citizens to freely dispose of themselves in family relations. This means the right to respect for private and family life, the right to a voluntary marriage, equal rights and responsibilities in the family, the right to state protection of the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood.

Personal guarantees

Ø Human and citizen rights and freedoms shall be protected by court. Everyone shall be guaranteed the right to challenge in court the decisions, actions, or inactivity of State power, local self-government bodies, officials and officers. (Article 55)

Ø Everyone shall have the right to compensation, at the expense of the State authorities or local self-government bodies, for material and moral damages caused by unlawful decisions, actions, or inactivity of State power, local self-government bodies, officials, or officers while exercising their powers. (Article 56).

Ø Everyone shall be guaranteed the right to know his rights and duties. Laws and other regulatory legal acts defining the rights and duties of citizens shall be brought to the notice of the population in compliance with the procedure established by law. Laws and other regulatory legal acts defining the rights and duties of citizens, which have not been brought to the notice of the population in compliance with the procedure established by law, shall be invalid. (Article 57)

Ø A person shall be presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his guilt is proved through a legal procedure and established by a court verdict of guilty. No one shall be obliged to prove his innocence of committing a crime. An accusation shall not be based on illegally obtained evidence or on assumptions. All doubts in regard to the proof of guilt of a person shall be interpreted in his favour. In the event of revocation of a court verdict as unjust, the State shall compensate the material and moral damages caused by the groundless conviction. (Article 62).

Ø A person shall not bear responsibility for refusing to testify or to provide explanations about himself/herself, members of his/her family, or close relatives, the circle of whom is determined by law. A suspect, an accused, or a defendant shall have the right to a defence. A convicted person shall enjoy all human and civil rights, with the exception of restrictions determined by law and established by a court verdict. (Article 63).