“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025), pages 49–58.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2025-36-49-58

Yushchyk Oleksii
On the methodology of research of legal information

The article addresses the methodological foundations for researching the phenomenon of legal information. While the Ukrainian legislation and scholarly literature provide multiple definitions of legal information, they often diverge due to the lack of a unified approach to understanding law and its essential concepts. The dissemination of legal information has expanded significantly with the emergence of digital technologies, thus making clarity on this subject even more imperative.
The primary goal is to propose a coherent methodological framework that can accurately conceptualize legal information as a specific type of specialized data within the domain of social governance. This framework involves distinguishing legal from general information through the lens of law’s regulatory function, emphasizing how normative acts and management decisions shape and define the very nature of legal information.
The study is grounded in a comparative analysis of existing legislative and academic sources from Ukrainian and international contexts (e.g., Black’s Law
Dictionary, Encyclopedia of Law). The central argument posits that legal information should be regarded as a subset of management information, specifically tied to the functioning of legal norms and institutions in society’s regulatory processes. This standpoint is supported by examining the difference between normative and ad hoc management decisions: only those decisions that derive from established norms and legal acts genuinely constitute legal information. Additionally, the article underlines the necessity to delineate clear boundaries for legal information by understanding the nature of law itself. Without an explicit theoretical stance on what law is, any attempt to define legal information risks ambiguity and inconsistency.
The findings reinforce that a robust definition of legal information relies on a systematic approach that encompasses legal norms, governance, and the interplay between legislation and its practical application. Adopting a clear, methodologically sound basis for researching legal information opens avenues for more focused legislative development, improved legal practice, and targeted academic inquiry.
Future research is directed toward examining the effects of digitalization and the use of data-driven tools in the maintenance, dissemination, and interpretation of legal information, especially in a rapidly evolving globalized context.

Key words: legal information, law, methodology, governance, normative acts, digitalization.

References

1. Informatsiini resursy. Slovnyk zakonodavchoi ta standartyzovanoi terminolohii / NAPN Ukrainy; Derzh. nauk.-ped. b-ka Ukrainy im. V. O. Sukhomlynskoho; [ukl.: P. I. Rohova, Ya. O. Chepurenko, S. M. Zozulia, I. H. Lobanovska]. Kyiv: Nilan-LTD, 2012. P. 173.
2. Black, H. C. Black’s Law Dictionary. 10th ed. St. Paul, MN: Thomson Reuters, 2014. 2010 p.
3. Encyclopedia of Law. URL: https://thelawdictionary.org
4. Oxford English Dictionary. URL: https://www.oed.com
5. American Bar Association. URL: https://www.americanbar.org
6. Krasheninnikova T. V., Nahorna Yu. A., Podvorchan A. Z. Slovnyk-dovidnyk yurydychnoi leksyky (etymolohichni notatky). Dnipro, 2018. Ch.1. P. 71.
7. Pro informatsiiu: Zakon Ukrainy vid 02 zhovtnia 1992 r. № 2657-XII. Vidomosti Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2657-12
8. Tam samo.
9. Teptiuk Ye. P. Zakonodavche rehuliuvannia ta sudovyi zakhyst prava na dostup do publichnoi informatsii v Ukraini: monohrafiia. Kyiv: Yurydychna dumka, 2019. 304 p.
10. Suhoniako N. V. Poniattia pravovoi informatsii ta yii osoblyvosti. Yurydychnyi naukovyi elektronnyi zhurnal. 2019. № 1. P. 156.
11. Yushchyk O. O. Pravova informatsiia: do kharakterystyky klasyfikatsii. Aktualni problemy derzhavotvorennia, pravotvorennia ta pravozastosuvannia: materialy Vseukr. nauk.-prakt. seminaru (Dnipro, 9 December 2022). Dnipro: Dniprop. Derzh. un-t vnutr. sprav, 2023. P. 96–97.
12. Yushchyk O. I. Pravova reforma: zagalne poniattia, problemy zdiisnennia v Ukraini. Kyiv: Instytut zakonodavstva Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy, 1997. 48 p.