CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN THE 1978 CONSTITUTION OF THE UKRAINIAN SSR

Abstract

This scientific article is devoted to the analysis of the provisions of the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR, which directly or indirectly define, mention or enshrine the rights of the child. Separate research was conducted into the content and direction of the constitutional provisions establishing the principle of equality of citizens before the law, regulating the right to education, declaring that families and its values are protected by the state, the obligation of children to care for and assist their parents is enshrined, and the role that these provisions play in establishing the legal status of children is examined. It is argued that social rights in the legal system of the Soviet Union were functionally determined, closely linked to the status of citizens, and as a result, the corresponding rights of the child were exercised indirectly. In other words, the child was not specified as the direct addressee of the norm. It is stated that one of the main functions of the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR was ideological, since many norms were essentially designed to ensure the education of citizens in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism. Despite the fact that, according to constitutional provisions, children had certain rights, they could not exercise them independently, but only through the legal status of their parents, family or other legal representatives. This situation can be explained by the fact that children were perceived primarily as objects of education rather than subjects of legal relations. As the analysis of the provisions showed, most of the rights of the child were recognised formally. Based on the above, it was concluded that, firstly, constitutional regulation of children’s rights during the period under review was mainly declarative in nature and was subordinated to the task of forming an ideologically loyal ‘Soviet citizen’ rather than pursuing the goal of recognising children as autonomous subjects of law; secondly, the Soviet constitution restricted the subjectivity of children. Particular attention is paid to the role of this historical experience in the evolution of children’s rights in Ukraine.