Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal

Editorial

Roman Petrov, Ievgen Zvieriev — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Editorial

Lucidly and attractively simply about complex issues of understanding law: General Legal Theory instructors’ reflections on the monograph Mykola Koziubra “Practical Philosophy of Law”

Oleksii Tseliev, Iuliia Matvieieva, Ievgen Zvieriev — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Lucidly and attractively simply about complex issues of understanding law: General Legal Theory instructors’ reflections on the monograph Mykola Koziubra “Practical Philosophy of Law”

Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession as an introduction to the use of the Cohesion Fund

Robert Talaga, Ida Musiałkowska — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The transformation processes of 1989 initiated Central European countries’ aspirations to integrate with Western Europe. In response, the world’s leading industrialized nations pledged support for systemic transformation, leading to the European Community’s establishment of the PHARE program in 1989 for Poland and Hungary. Over time, this assistance expanded to other aspiring EU member states, forming a coordinated pre-accession strategy.
A key financial instrument within this strategy was the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA), introduced in 2000. Modelled on the EU’s Cohesion Fund, ISPA aimed to support economic and social cohesion through large-scale investments in environmental protection and transport infrastructure. The program facilitated compliance with EU environmental standards and the development of trans-European transport networks (TENs). In Poland, ISPA-funded projects improved air and water quality, waste management, and integrated national transport systems with EU networks.
The literature on the use of pre-accession funding and ISPA in particular is fragmented and not abundant. Therefore, this article sheds light on ISPA’s programming, application processes, implementation challenges, and outcomes in a comprehensive way. The study employs legal analysis, critical evaluation of reports, and statistical data to assess ISPA’s performance. The findings provide insights into optimizing pre-accession assistance mechanisms and guiding future EU cohesion policy funding. It also serves as a source of policy-learning for the prospective EU Member States.

Legal Techniques in EU Legislative Drafting: A Model for Ukraine’s Law-making Reform

Tetiana Hudima, Volodymyr Ustymenko, Ruslan Dzhabrailov, Oleh Zahnitko — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines the European Union’s approach to legal act drafting through a system of principles, methods, and procedures that ensure the proper quality of legislation. It identifies key guidelines for drafting, including clarity and precision in the formulation of provisions, structural coherence of legal acts, adaptation of content to target audiences, and adherence to the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality, and legality. Particular focus is given to the legal techniques used to implement these principles in practice, such as necessity assessments, structural standards, codification, recasting, implementation monitoring, and multilevel legal and linguistic editing. Applying the EU approach to the Ukrainian context, the study overviews recent statutory reforms aimed at improving legislative drafting. The analysis shows that, while Ukrainian legislation has partially incorporated many EU legislative drafting concepts, their practical application depends on strengthening institutional capacity, enhancing expert support, and improving public participation mechanisms. The adoption of a uniform legislative drafting manual is proposed as a step toward harmonizing quality safeguards for enactments. The findings confirm the potential of EU standards to increase the efficiency and legitimacy of Ukraine’s national law-making process.

Judicial Reform in Ukraine in the Times of Post-revolution Opening and the Lessons the EU can Learn

Dmytro Koval, Andrii Latsyba — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The article analyses the progress and results of judicial reform in Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity through the prism of interaction between key stakeholders – civil society, state bodies, and international partners, particularly the European Union. The study combines an analysis of scientific literature with empirical data obtained through interviews with direct participants in the reform processes after 2014. The authors trace how the window of opportunity created by mass protests and a change in the country's political course influenced institutional transformations in the field of justice. The study identifies factors that contributed to and hindered the implementation of reforms: on the one hand, public demand for the purification of the judiciary, the activation of civil society and the support of international partners, and on the other hand, resistance from the old elites, the superficial commitment of new political actors to deep transformations and the lack of proper dialogue between key stakeholders. The study concludes that the success of judicial reform in Ukraine is partial, demonstrating that even in a favorable context, systemic changes require sustained political will and effective cooperation between internal and external actors.

Current Trends and Prospects of Ukrainian Return Migration

Marharyta Chabanna — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines contemporary trends in Ukrainian external migration and the factors influencing return migration, underscoring the need for return policies that foster economic growth and social stability. The study identifies key determinants of return, considering both forced and rational migration drivers alongside the social profile of displaced persons. Particular attention is given to pull and push factors that either facilitate return or encourage an extended stay in host countries. The analysis is structured around two main dimensions – security and socio-economic conditions – providing an evaluation of the opportunities available in Ukraine and host states. Given the challenges related to return – including housing issues, economic uncertainty, labor market barriers, legal and bureaucratic constraints, and reintegration difficulties – the author underscores the need for a comprehensive return strategy. In particular, in collaboration with international organizations and civil society, Ukrainian government needs to implement policies that ensure safe return, access to housing, medical care, legal assistance, psychological support, financial programs, and educational opportunities for returnees. In this regard, the author emphasizes that information and communication campaigns about available opportunities can play a crucial role in facilitating sustained return.

Genocide Trials in the International Criminal Court: Challenges of Fact-finding, the Ukrainian Case and ECHR Standards

Oleksandr Drozdov, Olena Drozdova, Iryna Basysta — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The prosecution of genocide in the International Criminal Court (ICC) presents significant challenges in fact-finding, evidence collection, and legal interpretation. This article examines the complexities of proving genocidal intent, the admissibility of evidence, and the role of international cooperation in ensuring accountability. A particular focus is placed on the Ukrainian case, analyzing the legal and procedural hurdles in establishing genocide under the Rome Statute. Furthermore, the study explores the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) standards relevant to genocide trials, emphasizing the intersection between human rights law and international criminal justice. By comparing ICC and ECHR approaches, this research highlights the necessity for robust investigative mechanisms, witness protection, and compliance with due process standards. The findings underscore the importance of strengthening international legal frameworks to enhance the effectiveness of genocide prosecutions.

Undoing the Group’s Fabric: Social Disintegration as a Possible Manifestation of Genocidal Intent

Maksym Vishchyk — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The fundamental element of genocide, the special intent “to destroy” a protected group, has given rise to two possible readings of its scope. A narrow view limits intended destruction to physical and biological forms only, while a broad approach dictates that the intent can be manifested in the desired social disintegration of a human group, i.e., destruction as a social unit. This debate as to the potential place of social disintegration within the intent element remains far from being settled in the contemporary law of genocide, and direct and rigorous analysis of the issue in the jurisprudence and doctrine has been relatively rare. The present article aims to remedy this gap by elucidating the essence of genocidal intent through fundamental rules of treaty interpretation. It concludes that nothing in the ordinary meaning of the term “to destroy” in its context, in light of the Genocide Convention’s object and purpose, as well as the travaux préparatoires limits intended destruction to physical and biological forms only. It further explains how, despite seemingly contradictory wording of reasoning common to case-law of international tribunals, the latter, too, intentionally or not, implied a broad reading of the intended destruction in their analysis. The article points to the apparent recurrent and widespread confusion between “destruction” in the sense of modus operandi of underlying acts and “destruction” in the meaning of the intent (i.e., intended outcome). Finally, it provides for important considerations as to why reading social disintegration into the genocidal intent favors the soundest possible interpretation of the law of genocide.

The Polyakh Case: Implications for Lustration in Ukraine and Abroad

Bohdan Bernatskyi, Anastasiia Mits — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

In October of 2019, the ECtHR found violations of the Convention in the case of Polyakh and Others v. Ukraine, thereby questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian lustration and declaring that such interference had no signs of being necessary in a democratic society. The Strasbourg decision, even so, implied a new and permissible scope in subject and time for lustration. This paper analyses the implications of the ECtHR decision in the Polyakh and Others v. Ukraine case regarding the constitutionality of lustration in Ukraine and it assesses the Government Cleansing Act’s international implications.

The Rights of the Child in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): The History of Creation and the Role of the Ukrainian SSR in that Process

Aisel Omarova, Mykhaylo Shepitko — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 is one of the main documents, which laid a foundation for all other international documents on human rights, including child’s rights. The paper will explore the contribution of the Ukrainian SSR to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 as they relate to child’s rights.
This article is especially relevant, considering the Russia-Ukraine war and the fact that Russia propagates that Ukraine is not a subject of international relations and the state in the meaning of international law and never was. However, our analysis proves, that Ukraine, even being one of the union republics of the USSR, acted as an independent subject of international law to a certain extent. Ukraine is a charter member of the UN from inception and, as such, took part in the drafting process along with other countries’ representatives. Features of this activity by the Ukrainian SSR during the drafting process of the Declaration will be revealed. The paper concludes with a statement about the active participation of the Ukrainian SSR in the drafting of provisions concerning the right to life, the existence of rights and freedoms regardless of any distinctions, the right to education, and religious education.

Shakal-Express as a Political-Affective Technology: Cancel Culture, Moral Judgment, and Digital Activism among Ukrainian Generation Z during Wartime

Ihor Tsyhvintsev — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article conceptualizes the “Shakal-Express” – a wartime term from Ukrainian Twitter – as a localized form of digital moral sanctioning and a political-affective technology. Rather than simple online outrage, it functions as a mechanism of horizontal moral governance, blending reputational control, affective mobilization, and non-institutional political signaling.
Analyzing seven cases from Ukraine’s public sphere (2022–2025), the article explores how Generation Z draws symbolic boundaries of acceptable behavior during crises. Each case is examined through four criteria: trigger, affective frame, response strategy, and consequences. This framework reveals how online judgment is structured and evolves.
The study offers four hypotheses on the motives, impacts, and shifts within “Shakal-Express” as a practice of informal digital justice. It also highlights its dual nature – positioned between cancel culture and bullying, empathy and cruelty.
Ultimately, the article proposes “Shakal-Express” as a useful model for examining new forms of youth political participation in an age of digital affect, symbolic violence, and social upheaval.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles During First World War and Interwar Period (1914-1939), Military Experiments, Origins of International Legal Regulation

Mykhailo Akimov, Iryna Pokhylenko — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

An analysis of emergence and development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, during the First World War and in the interwar period (1914-1939) has been made. The authors have examined the first military experiments in the United States, Great Britain, France and the USSR that laid the grounds for the future use of UAVs in military. Particular attention has been paid to such prototypes as the American Kettering Bug and the British Aerial Target, and the first production models, in particular the OQ-2 Radioplane. The beginning of international legal regulation of the use of military aviation (the Paris Convention, the Hague Rules of Air Warfare), which also became the basis for the future regulation of the use of UAVs, has been also studied. It has been emphasized that despite technological limitations this period was key to the formation of engineering concepts and legal approaches that influenced the further development of drones.

Theoretical and Practical Challenges of Proper Administrative Service Fee Regulations

Viktor Tymoshchuk — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The article addresses one of the recommendations of the European Union outlined in the 2024 Enlargement Report on Ukraine – the adoption of a law on administrative fees. This is indeed a very relevant issue for Ukraine, the resolution of which will significantly impact the functioning of public administration and its relationship with citizens. The adoption of such a law of appropriate quality will contribute to greater stability in the system of providing administrative services through the introduction of moderate and transparent compensatory administrative fees for administrative services. The availability of additional financial resources in this area will help maintain the accessibility and quality of administrative services. Proper legislative resolution of this issue is also a way to overcome certain unscrupulous interests in this field, particularly those of a departmental or other nature.

International Commercial Mediation and the Development of the Right of Access to Justice

Mourad Yousfi — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Access to justice is a fundamental and constitutional right and concept in most modern legal systems. This right is seen as a safeguard of peace and prosperity in societies through the insurance of the respect of the rule of law and rights by defined structures and institutions. Although the prevailing interpretation of this right is closely linked to the judicial system, there seem to be some developments toward integrating other tools and the emergence of a complex institutional and regulatory justice system. The case of international business disputes appears to be worthy of study as it reflects the specific needs and requirements for customized access to justice in this field. This paper will try to explore this movement and shift in paradigms, focusing on the potential influence of some mechanisms such as mediation, on the classic understanding of access to justice.

General and Special Norms Concerning Careless Crimes in the Aspect of Legal Certainty as a Component of the Rule of Law

Serhii Bahirov — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The article examines collision between the requirements of legal certainty of the description of unlawful behavior and the desire of specialists for a rational construction of criminal legislation. The direction of criminal law policy is criticized, according to which the legislator tries to cover with special norms all possible forms of manifestation of careless behavior and thus achieve legal certainty. Specific practical examples prove that such a direction of criminal law policy leads to a decrease in the ability of law enforcement officers to abstract legal thinking and the loss of theoretical substantiation skills of the grounds for criminal liability. It is empirically proven that the above problems concern not only law enforcement agencies of Ukraine but also judges of the ECHR. The point of view that improving general norms on criminal liability for careless crimes is a more rational direction of criminal law policy is supported.

Review of Court Practice in Disputes on Reclamation of a Share in Common Joint Property

Iryna Dzera — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The article examines the current court practice in cases involving the application of civil sanctions in the form of reclamation of part of property by one of the co-owners in common joint ownership. The author analyzes the grounds for vindication of property and the types of property that may be reclaimed by way of vindication.
Based on the study of the arguments contained in the judgments of the Supreme Court, the author notes that certain legal positions are controversial and inconsistent with the provisions of civil and family law. Taking into account the author's arguments, the author determines the appropriate and effective ways to protect the rights of co-owners in case of alienation of common property by one spouse without the consent of the other spouse.