Is an absolute monarchy absolute? Law-making aspects

Introduction: the paper discusses the viable possibilities for sustenance of absolute monarchy as a form of government in modern conditions. It analyzes basic laws of states, which are most often in legal and political science literature called absolute monarchies: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Swaziland (Eswatini), United Arab Emirates, Qatar. Materials and Methods: regulatory base of studies has been formed by the currently valid Constitution of the Sultanate of Oman, Constitutional Acts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Constitution of Brunei Darussalam, Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland, Constitution of the United Arab Emirates, Constitution of Qatar. Methodology of studies is based on a general dialectical method of scientific knowledge, methods of empirical and theoretical nature, i.e., descriptions, formalizations, analysis, hypotheses, and specific legal methods (technical, and comparative law research). Results of the Studies: the paper presents the structure of the legislative power in the mentioned states, as well as the influence of the head of state on the process of law-making, as a result of which the nature of absolute monarchy power is disputed, and raise the issue of understanding the absolute monarchy in theoretical legal science and the development of a relevant classification of monarchies as a form of government in modern world. Findings and Conclusions: analysis of the Basic Laws and Statutes of mentioned states allowed us to conclude that none of them can be classified as absolute monarchies. In addition, Oman and Saudi Arabia cannot be classified as limited monarchies due to the special status of the heads of state. Swaziland (Eswatini) and Brunei are the monarchies of the classical dualistic model. Form of government in United Arab Emirates also tends to dual monarchy, if not to take into account elective nature of appointment of the head of state. Qatar cannot be attributed to any of the types of established classification.