HISTORICAL-THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES OF APPLICATION OF DISCRETIONAL POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE

The introduction of the presidency is of great importance for the historical development of Ukraine as a sovereign, independent, democratic and legal state, as the consolidation of the President's position at the legislative level testifies to the international experience of democratic institutions, the main place among which is occupied by the presidency. The Constitution of Ukraine provided great opportunities for the President as a representative of the "interests of the whole people" to remain the dominant element of the political system of Ukraine. The powers of the President, in contrast to the powers of many other bodies and officials of the state, are provided exclusively at the level of the Constitution of Ukraine, and their expansion through ordinary laws is not allowed. The latter determine only the procedure for exercising a particular authority of the President of Ukraine in a particular sphere of public life. And this week it is very interesting to study a separate function of the President, namely the ability to act "in the spirit of the law (Constitution)" - discretionary powers. Many decisions and drafts of heads of state see discretionary powers, and this does not mean that there is an excess of power or even going beyond the law. After all, in the legal encyclopedia, dis-cretionary powers are defined as the right of the head of state, head of government, and other officials of public authorities to act under certain conditionsat their own discretion within the law. Discretion in a particular situation is indicated in the rule of law by such appeals as, for example, "may", "has the right", and not "should", "must". In the recent history of Ukraine, during the transformation of the institution of the presidency, we have already seen the exercise of their discretion by the heads of state. For the most part, we must mention the resonant decisions "in the spirit of the Constitution" of V. Yushchenko and P. Poroshenko. Thus, we will consider the poll of the President of Ukraine V. Zelensky, conducted on October 25, 2020, from the standpoint of his exercise of his discretion, namely the right to act based on his legal status, which is primarily defined in Article 102 of the Constitution of Ukraine,   where it is written that "the President of Ukraine is the head of state and acts on its behalf."