Теоретичні аспекти формування правової культури студентів закладів вищої освіти в Україні

Problem setting. The article considers the concept of legal culture, which is a part of human culture, a set of rules, judicial institutions, values, forms and processes that fulfil the task of legal and social orientation of people in a particular society. It is specified that legal knowledge and legal culture should be a necessary component of general training of graduates of higher educational institutions, as experts in different spheres are unable to perform their professional obligations sufficiently without the knowledge, awareness and correct interpretation of legal norms. The legal culture role is enhanced in terms of active participation of the population in the formation of law and order, providing students with legal information on the legislation in power and practice of its application, prevention of crimes committed on a nihilistic basis, as well as formation of European type legal culture that will enable citizens to integrate into the European and world legal framework for the implementation of their private and public interests.Recent research and publications analysis. Recent research of the legal culture of students, namely, the papers of А. Vozovych, A. Husenko, O. Diomina, N. Kovalenko, monograph by O. Chebykina, V. Bulhakov “Psykholohichni osnovy pravovoi kultury ta umovy yii korehuvannia” (2019) et al. are analysed.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The study of theoretical issues of forming the legal culture of students of non-judicial specialities, its essence, meaning and influence on the daily behaviour of young people, as well as the analysis of legal education conduct as a way of raising the legal awareness level needs to be carried out. Paper main body. It is found that legal culture of a student includes the following: respect for the rights and conviction in its social and personal value; availability of certain legal background; high level of general culture, erudition and education; principled and motivated compliance with the law both in educational institution and professional activity, as well as in everyday life; high social and legal activity. The basic rights and duties of students of higher educational institutions, the specifics of their legal culture and consciousness formation depending on age, intellectual and psychological characteristics are reviewed. The necessity for deepening the legal knowledge of students of higher educational institutions with non-judicial specialities and the introduction of special courses, in particular, “Legal Culture” and “Legal Education of Students” are defined. It is considered that the criteria for evaluating the level of formation of students’ legal awareness and legal culture are as follows: the degree of legal awareness, readiness to apply legal knowledge in practice; the degree of value and legal orientation of a person, willingness for socially useful behaviour; the degree of perception of the essence of law as a moral value; the degree of formation of legal skills and abilities, compliance with the law, social and legal activity of a student. It is established that depending on the attitude of Ukrainian students to the modern legal life of society, the following types of deformation of their legal awareness can be distinguished: 1) legal nihilism; 2) legal indifference; 3) legal infantilism. It is established that in order to increase the level of legal culture, it is necessary to carry out legal education of students by the following means: legal propaganda; holding roundtable discussion; appearances in the press, radio and television; answers to questions from listeners and readers, a kind of “legal universal education”; teaching the basics of law for students of different courses; legal practice, everyday experience; conclusion of various contracts, use of lawyer services, law enforcement activity; self-education.Conclusions and perspectives for further research. It is established that students who have sufficient level of legal culture are able to find and implement the right line of conduct in a certain situation, despite lacking life experience, therefore, the requirement to know, respect and enforce the laws is the number one priority in the education of young people, in order to transform respect for the law into the personal conviction of each young member of society. Legal education should contribute to the development of the personality of a student, who does not only possess the complete legal knowledge and skills but is also social-minded, able to integrate into democratic processes of our country as well. It is the social and legal activity of students that is the peculiarity and criterion of the effectiveness of legal education and at the same time the most crucial element of the legal culture. Розглянуто поняття правової культури, суть правової культури студентів закладів вищої освіти, її зміст, критерії та значення у формуванні громадянського суспільства. Проаналізовано останні дослідження з питань правової культури студентської молоді. Визначено основні завдання, цілі та засоби правового виховання як умови підвищення рівня правосвідомості студентів