Abstract
<jats:p>The article provides a thorough scientific and theoretical analysis of the impact of European legal principles and standards on ensuring fundamental human rights and freedoms and on the transformation of the model of the rule of law in Ukraine. It is argued that the current processes of Ukrainian statehood formation are taking place in the context of intensive European legal integration, which requires a rethinking of the provisions of the rule of law, constitutionalism, human rights guarantees, and the instruments by which these guarantees are implemented and protected. European legal standards, formed as a result of the practice of international institutions, primarily the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as European Union law, fulfill this role and serve as the normative and value basis for the restructuring of the national legal order. The specifics of the implementation of European principles in legislation and law enforcement practice, in particular in judicial protection, public administration, and criminal justice, are analyzed. The impact of human rights norms on the transformation of the institutional structure of state power, as well as new processes of legal responsibility of the state before the individual and the development of a new way of interpreting legal norms, are assessed. It is argued that the transformation of the model of the rule of law in Ukraine has not only a normative but also an axiological dimension; it is associated with a shift from human-centeredness to the priorities of legal understanding and law enforcement. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the implementation of European legal standards critically depends on the systematization of legislative changes; consistency of judicial practice; institutional capacity of public authorities; and the quality and level of legal culture in society. The article emphasizes that these reforms and efforts to further transform the rule of law in Ukraine should not only consist of formal harmonization of law, but also be firmly implemented in the practice of public institutions. Keywords: rule of law, European legal principles, human rights standards, fundamental rights and freedoms, supremacy of law, implementation of law, constitutionalism, European integration, transformation of the legal system.</jats:p>