Issues of Lawmaking and Lawmaking Terminology in Ukraine and Italy
Abstract
The article focuses on the comparison of Ukrainian and Italian lawmaking activities and lawmaking terminology, which allowed to identify similar approaches to the lawmaking process and lawmaking terminology, and to outline the differences in the lawmaking process and the content of lawmaking terminology, and the peculiarities of its consolidation at the level of regulatory legal acts. The author emphasises that lawmaking is one of the main activities of a modern rule-of-law state. It is established that a special feature of the Italian Constitution is the presence of a special section devoted to the procedure for adopting laws, which contains a detailed description of the terminology of the lawmaking process. Particular attention is paid to the comparative analysis of Ukrainian and Italian lawmaking terminology, which made it possible to identify common features in the approaches to the lawmaking process, in particular, in terms of understanding of such concepts as: “legislative function”, “legislative initiative”, “draft law”, “promulgation of laws”, “popular referendum”, “delegation of the legislative function”. At the same time, the author identifies a number of differences relating to both the legal nature of these terms and the specifics of their enshrining at the regulatory level. The author emphasises that Italian legislation has a clearer terminological distinction of concepts, their consistency and stability, which ensures a higher level of legal certainty. In the Ukrainian legal system, on the other hand, some terms have a broader understanding, which sometimes complicates their practical application in lawmaking. These steps will allow Ukraine not only to increase the efficiency of lawmaking, but also to bring the national legal system closer to the standards and best practices of the European Union.
Downloads
References
Baschiera, M. (2006). Introduction to the Italian Legal System. The Allocation of Normative Powers: Issues in Law Finding. International Journal of Legal Information, 34(2), 279–326.
Bednarek, G. (2012). The approximation of criminal laws in the European Union: the demise of incongruency of legal terminology in legal translation? International Journal for Legal Communication, 1, 37–51. https://doi.org/10.14746/cl.2012.10.03.
Caroccia, R. (2019). Rule of Law in the Italian Legal Environment: a Principle still in Force? European Journal of Transformation Studies, 7(2), 237–244.
Cicconetti, S. M. (2003). Elements of Constitutional Law. Giappichelli.
Cicconetti, S. M. (2019). Parliamentary law. Giappichelli.
Genew-Puhalewa, І. (2011). European Union terminology unification – directions for the contrastive study of two Slavic and two non-Slavic languages. Research in Language, 9(1), 69–79.
Goletiani, L. (2020). Obligation markers in Ukrainian and Italian legal language: a contrastive study of a parallel normative text. University of Milan. https://air.unimi.it/handle/2434/745292.
Gualdo, R. (2007). The words of the law in an Italian and European perspective. In A. Cerri (Ed.), Reasonableness in scientific research and its specific role in legal knowledge (pp. 155–170). Aracne Editrice.
Herhul, H. (2008). Requirements for legal terms. Bulletin of Lviv Polytechnic National University, 620, 294–297.
Husarov, S. M. (2015). Subjects of legislative initiative in Ukraine. Our Law, 6, 54–60.
Kolyukh, V. (2015). The legislative function of the parliament and the practice of its implementation in the foreign states. State and Law. Series: Political Sciences, 68, 135–147.
Kościałkowska-Okońska, Е. (2011). EU Terminology in Interpreter Training: Selected Problem Areas Connected with EU-Related Texts. Research in Language, 9(1), 111–124.
Kot, O. O., Hryniak, A. B., & Milovska, N. V. (Ed.). (2022). Lawmaking in Ukraine: Prospects for legislative regulation. Helvetika.
Lazariev, V. (2021). Features of the use of legal terminology in the countries of the European Union. ScienceRise: Juridical Science, 3(17), 4–8. http://doi.org/10.15587/2523-4153.2021.241513.
Lazariev, V. V. (2022). Conceptualization of legal terminology: the need for a transparent terminological approach. Law and Safety, 1(84), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.32631/pb.2022.1.08.
Liubchenko, M. I. (2015). Legal terminology: concepts, features, types. Prava liudyny.
Nardini, W. J. (1998). Italian constitutional court decisions upholding unconstitutional laws: Cautionary tales for a US balanced budget amendment [LL.M. thesis, European University Institute].
Nazarenko, Ya. M. (2010). Types of functions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Uzhorod University Herald. Series: Law, 14, 158–163.
Nechyporenko, Yu. (2013). Legislative and constituent functions of the parliament of Poland: effectiveness of implementation. Scientific Notes of the I. F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, 1, 363–376.
Panasiuk, V. M. (2024). The Right of Legislative Initiative: Content and Forms of Implementation. Analytical and Comparative Jurisprudence, 4, 87–90. https://doi.org/10.24144/2788-6018.2024.04.13.
Plaksa, V. I. (2022). Problem aspects of definition of the concept “subject of legislative initiative”. Scientific Notes of Taurida National V. I. Vernadsky University. Series: Public Administration, 3, 125–129. https://doi.org/10.32838/TNU-2663-6468/2022.3/21.
Romano, F., & Cammelli, A. (2023). The resources of the IS-LeGI database for the study of the language of law. CHIMERA: Journal of the Corpus of Romance Languages and Language Studies, 10, 237–245.
Shestakova, S. (2018). Features of legal terminology as a specialized system of legal concepts. Scientific Herald of International Humanitarian University, 33(1), 71–73.
Shliakhtun, P. P. (2005). Constitutional Law: Dictionary of Terms. Lybid.
Teremetskyi, V. I., Lazariev, V. V., Topchii, V. V., Vitiuk, D. L., & Roy, O. V. (2025). Legal terminology as the basis for the accuracy of legal norms. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 9(3), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.55214/25768484.v9i3.5242.
Yatsyshyn, N. P. (2013). Terms of law as specialized system of legal concepts. Terminological Bulletin, 2(2), 99–103.
Zhuk, N. A. (2007). Parliament, President, Government: From Mutual Restraint to Balance. Kharkiv yurydychnyi.
Copyright (c) 2025 V. I. Teremetskyi, V. V. Lazariev
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
