THE SPECIAL STATUS OF THE PROSECUTION IN LEGAL RELATIONS REGARDING THE LEASE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND

Abstract

The article explores the role of the prosecutor's office in the institutional mechanism for regulating legal relations concerning the lease of agricultural land. While it does not directly regulate these relations, it performs supervisory and representative functions, ensuring compliance with land legislation, identifying violations, and initiating legal proceedings. The article analyzes the prosecutor's function of representing state interests in court, which serves as a key tool for ensuring legality in the sphere of land relations. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the prosecutor's office's status following the 2016 constitutional reform (when a separate section on the prosecutor's office was removed from the Fundamental Law, and its legal status was instead enshrined in Article 131¹ of the Constitution of Ukraine), as well as the impact of European integration processes on the evolution of its powers. The article examines problematic aspects of the prosecutor's representation of state interests, including issues related to defining the concept of «state interest,» its ambiguity, and the challenges of proving it in court. Judicial practice is analyzed, revealing inconsistencies in approaches to the admissibility of prosecutorial intervention in land relations. A separate focus is placed on the mechanisms by which the prosecutor's office obtains information to identify violations, particularly the use of «other sources,» which may pose corruption risks. The article proposes ways to improve oversight of the prosecutor's office, including clearly defining permissible sources of information and introducing an external supervision mechanism. Emphasis is placed on the fact that, despite restrictions on its supervisory functions, the prosecutor's office has retained the ability to represent state interests in court. The article concludes that it is necessary to maintain a balance between protecting state interests and preventing excessive prosecutorial intervention in land relations. A set of measures is proposed to optimize legal mechanisms for the prosecutor's involvement in resolving land disputes, which would contribute to strengthening the rule of law and ensuring the effective use of state resources.