DECENTRALIZATION, SUBREGIONAL LEVEL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICTS IN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD: FROM NATIONALISM TO ULTRACENTRISM

Abstract

In this article the author gives examples of functioning of administrative-territorial models in France, Spain and Italy, comparing them with Ukraine. The work highlights the features of the municipal, subregional, regional and central levels of government and self-government in these countries. According to the author, mentioned unitary countries of the European Union, known for their high level of decentralization, have a similar principle of administrative-territorial structure. The implementation of regional policy in Ukraine today is somewhat centralized and inefficient. The work reveals the main levers of influence on the effectiveness of management and self-government at different territorial levels. During the reading, the significance and functions of the subregional level (districts) of governance in Ukraine is being rethought. The work affects not only the functions of public administrations in Ukraine, but also the executive territorial and judicial authorities, the impact of administrative-territorial reform on their reorganization. The author suggests that the right to regional self-government and the status of regional communities (soft regionalization) should be recognized in Ukraine, which will directly affect the integration of citizens and the realization of their fundamental rights. The article proposes designs of territorial structure, which would allow to institutionally separate the functions of subregional and regional management and administration bodies in Ukraine, which is required by the unitary structure of the state enshrined in the Constitution. For the most part, few people understand the significance of Ukraine's subregional reform and the challenges and prospects it brings, so that is why this paper reveals the main mechanisms and differences in the functioning of administrative-territorial models in Europe. In general, the author develops ethnocentric positions. The article states that the vague definition of community status in the legislation leads to ambiguous judicial practice. The content of judicial districts is revealed as a rather complex, but also important component of administrative-territorial divisions in a unitary decentralized state. The author also gives an example of the Spanish experience of decentralization which affected the fact that the return to historical (monarchical) traditions in this state led to a powerful outpouring of decentralization of power.