The article examines the phenomenon of positive responsibility in the law of social security of Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the conceptual and categorical apparatus in this area. In particular, the concepts of “responsibility”, “juridical responsibility”, “legal responsibility” and their types are revealed.

It is concluded that at the current stage of the development of the science of social security law, the previously existing doctrine of social protection, according to which the state was primarily responsible for providing social protection, is being replaced by a new one. Its content consists of the ideas of the individual’s responsibility for his standard of living and future, as well as that of members of society for their well-being as a whole and of persons who need support. Thus, the classical idea of the welfare state is gradually being transformed.

The processes described in the article are proposed to call “positive responsibility”.

In the most generalized form, it is proposed to understand it as the responsibility of everyone for their own standard of living today and in the future, the responsibility of members of society for each other without the participation of the state in this through the implementation of measures based on the principle of solidarity inherent for the system of mandatory state social insurance, but for example, with the help of charitable activities, etc.

The author notes that in the context of social security law and the sphere of social protection, one should talk about positive responsibility not as a motive for lawful behavior, that is, for “non-violation” of legislative prescriptions, but also about the possibility of voluntarily and consciously taking on additional responsibilities for the improvement of one’s personal situation and society as a whole through, for example, helping someone who needs it (in the form of, for example, charitable activity,
volunteer assistance, donation), conducting social entrepreneurship, etc.

On the basis of studies of special legal literature, the author concludes that the construction of “positive legal responsibility” is the most successful in view of the chosen subject of research, because it has the widest meaning.

In addition, it is concluded that positive legal responsibility is a separate institution of social security law, and today it also acquires the characteristics of an independent principle of social protection in Ukraine. The greatest manifestations of the principles underlying it are found precisely within such a form of social protection as non-state social security.

Keywords: social protection, social security, social security law, principles, juridical responsibility, legal responsibility, positive legal responsibility, responsibility in social security law.

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