CHARACTERISTICS OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINIAN LEGISLATION

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the institution of asylum and the legal status of asylum seekers in contemporary international law and Ukrainian legislation. It reveals the evolution of international human rights standards in the context of globalization processes and the post-war development of the international community, in particular within the framework of the United Nations and the formation of the International Bill of Human Rights. The independent nature of the right to asylum as an institution of international law, distinct from the institution of refugee status, is substantiated, and the absence of universal conventional regulation of the status of asylum seekers is emphasized. The relationship between the right of an individual to seek asylum and the sovereign right of states to determine the procedure and conditions for granting it is analyzed, which leads to gaps in the protection of the rights of asylum seekers at the stage of consideration of their applications. Particular attention is paid to the minimum international legal standard for the treatment of asylum seekers, formed on the basis of treaty and customary norms of international law, and the guiding principles of international asylum law, in particular the principles of non-refoulement, confidentiality, access to protection procedures, family unity, non-application of criminal sanctions, and the right to information. The study examined the implementation of these principles in Ukrainian legislation and found that the national legal system generally complies with international standards and provides asylum seekers with temporary legal status and basic guarantees of protection. It is also noted that asylum seekers are often associated with refugees, whose legal status is regulated by international and national law, but as the analysis shows, “asylum seeker” is a special legal status of a person, which is characterized by differences both from the status of a refugee and from the general legal status of a person in international law. The conclusion is made about the need to further improve national legislation in the field of asylum in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the protection of the rights and freedoms of asylum seekers in accordance with Ukraine’s international legal obligations.