Parliamentarism is immanently associated with the special role of Parliament as the leading body of representation of the people in the State, and by its nature is one of the key forms and means via which democracy is implemented. Various forms of activity used by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are an indicative manifestation of parliamentarism development in Ukraine. Among them, the institute of parliamentary hearings plays a special part.

The purpose of the article is to identify the essence and content of the institution of parliamentary hearings as a form and means of ensuring democracy in Ukraine.

Parliamentary hearings are a multifunctional tool which directly embodies the representative nature and social purpose of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as the only legislative body in Ukraine.

The author reviews the legal nature of parliamentary hearings. An emphasis is made on its complex character. The author also identifies essential features of parliamentary hearings which stem from their public nature and content. This nature is determined by involvement of a wide audience of participants and, mainly, by their purpose which is to study issues of public interest and formulate the socio-political priority in need of legislative regulation. Through parliamentary hearings, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine receives a sort of “feedback” – information on the kind of impact made by legislative regulation on public relations and, thus, on the quality of legislation, and this allows identifying the promising areas for its improvement. Parliamentary hearings facilitate the implementation of the key function of the Parliament – the legislative one, thus directly consolidating democracy as a way of ruling which is based on the principle of people’s sovereignty.

The author focuses on the subjects of parliamentary hearings – initiators and direct participants. It is suggested that the right to initiate parliamentary hearings should be granted to parliamentary factions (groups), as this will create additional opportunities for opposition parties and will contribute to assurance of democracy. The author emphasizes that granting to citizens of the right to initiate parliamentary hearings in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is an extremely important step in strengthening the ties of the Parliament with the people and with the institutions of civil society. Thus, parliamentary hearings are increasingly becoming a means and form of ensuring democracy.

In general, regulation of the procedures of parliamentary hearings is appropriately provided for in legislation of Ukraine. The author notes that to improve the efficiency of parliamentary hearings, it is necessary to clarify their purpose, with an emphasis made on the control function of Parliament, to expand the circle of initiators and legislatively define the forms of Parliament’s and the public’s control over implementation of the recommendations resulting from parliamentary hearings.

The author places an emphasis on the need to define the types of legal acts in the legislation, their legal force, and hierarchy. It is noted that, given the insufficient level of legal regulation of democracy forms in Ukraine, primarily, of the all-Ukrainian and local referendums, people's legislative initiative, public hearings, public control and etc., parliamentary hearings in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IX convocation should become a launching platform for development of the concept of democracy in Ukraine.