Cannon Law: Character of Relationship with State and International Law

The article aims to find out what place canon law occupies as a branch of law in interaction with other branches of law – church, international and state ones. It was noted that studies of the legal nature of canonical and ecclesiastical law in Ukrainian science were almost non-existent. And the urgency of this topic is due primarily to the formation of new relations in the church-religious sphere, which will also affect the development of international relations both on an intergovernmental and inter-confessional level. The author applied the logical, historical-comparative and system-structural methods. Due to this, it was possible to find out the historical and theoretical foundations of the formation and existence of legal norms in the conditions of interaction and influence of religious-religious, international and state factors. It is argued that canon law is a separate law and order, which correlates with international law. At the same time, not being a part of this law, it can interact with it. That is why it cannot be argued that canon law is a subjection of international law. Equally contentious is the statement regarding the possible development of canon law. In fact, canon law is the most archaic, persistent and dogmatic in relation to any other field of law. It was analysed a large number of scientific studies of different directions and schools, which led to the conclusion that there is no single understanding of the essence of canon law