values and principles of constitutionalism

Introduction. The legal term of “constitutionalization” is relevant and in demand at the present stage of the constitutional development of the Russian state, as evidenced by the increasing frequency of its use in scientific works. The modern use of the term of “constitutionalization” has many meanings that are not always specified by the authors. In this connection, the definition of the essence and content of this concept has theoretical and practical significance. Theoretical analysis. The author made an attempt to theoretically comprehend the concept of “constitutionalization”, including the lexemes of “constitutionalization of the legal order” and “constitutionalization of the legal system”, based on the analysis of works by foreign and domestic authors, formalized some common essential and substantive attributive features of the phenomenon of “constitutionalization”. Empirical analysis. It is noted that in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the current Russian legislation, the judicial practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the term of “constitutionalization” has not found its reflection. As for the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in some of its decisions this concept is mentioned in connection with the substantiation of the role of the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts, the influence of their legal positions on the constitutionalization of the European legal order. Results. The author defines constitutionalization as a complex construct, with the acquisition of constitutional meaning by all phenomena and processes of legal reality occurring in society and the state being its attributive-relational, essential, target feature. Based on the etymological, semantic, systemic and structural analysis of this phenomenon, the author presented it as a multi-level, multi-aspect system, identified qualifying features and design features, levels, phases, stages.