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Article Ensuring the System of National Legislation in Conditions of War: The Parliamentary Dimension
Authors VOLODYMYR VENHER
Name of magazine Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version)
Issue 1 / 2023
Pages 76 - 93
Annotation

The war challenges the possibility of using the legal norms as an effective regulator of social relations. Under such conditions, the proper legislative activity of the parliament as a legislative body is the basis for ensuring the system of national legislation. To develop a more appropriate response to the war challenges, the Constitution of Ukraine provides for the possibility of introducing martial law as a special legal regime. This regime enables usage of exceptional legal and administrative tools, which, on the one hand, will significantly increase the level of discretion of the public authorities for such a response, and on the other – will provide the possibility of real guarantee and protection of basic human rights. It is extremely important to determine the basic requirements for the legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in wartime.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of legislative powers by the Ukrainian Parliament in the conditions of martial law and to ensure the system of national legislation through the prism of compliance with the main components of the rule of law.

The article presents practical examples of the implementation of legislative regulation in some areas, where the need to ensure compliance with the principles of legality, legal certainty, the prohibition of abuse of power, the principle of equality and nondiscrimination, and access to justice is clearly crucial. Adoption of new laws (parliamentary statutory legislation) and amendments to existing ones should be carried out by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, considering the key requirement to balance between the urgent needs of protecting national sovereignty, meeting the needs of the military command, and protecting human rights. From the Parliament’s practical law-making activities perspective, there is a need to ensure the priority of qualitative, predictable, and non-discriminatory normative regulation of legal relations at the level of law (parliamentary statutes according to article 92 of the Ukrainian Constitution), which will guarantee the realization of human rights in conditions of martial law and, if necessary, provide the possibility of judicial protection of human rights.

 

Keywords parliament; system of legislation; rule of law; legality; legal certainty; access to justice
References

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Websites

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