ON THE ISSUE OF PROTECTION OF PUBLIC MORALITY: REALITIES OF MODERN LEGISLATION

The article examines the issue of protection of public morality of modern Ukrainian legislation and the direction of resolving this issue in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The urgency of the issue of moral protection is undeniable, because any offence, crime or action that harms others is an immoral phenomenon. The protection of morality, therefore, aims to prevent illegal human activities and criminal acts in the future. The decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are aimed at achieving this goal, which is dictated by humanistic tendencies and social and legal progress. However, the protection of public morality under current Ukrainian legislation does not fully meet this goal of the European Community. The relevant law of Ukraine “On Protection of Public Morality” specifies only some legal bases of protection of society from the distribution of products that may adversely affect public morality, leaving all other issues of morality aside. This leads to such negative consequences as disrespect for the elderly, careless attitude to family responsibilities, degradation of personality, etc., because it is morality that originally exists in society, defining the essence of human nature, which exists in contrast to the animal world. The article analyzes the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and finds that the issue of legal protection of public and personal morality can be divided into two areas: protection of personal morality in the moral interests of society and protection of morality recognized in society and currently valid. . An analysis of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has given grounds to assert that the European Community searches for justice by combining the interests of society and the needs of the individual. The Court recognizes moral and fair interference in a person's private life if such interference: meets an urgent need and a social need; meets the condition of “the need for such intervention in a democratic society”; is proportional to the legitimate aim; directly provided by law within the meaning of Art. 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The following are recognized by the European Court of Human Rights as illegal and immoral: systematic storage and use by public authorities of information about a person's private life; use of information relating to a person's distant past;