Ukrainian civil society institutions and organisations activities under special legal regimes

Abstract

The activity of state institutions and civil society under special legal regimes differs from the general procedure for exercising their powers to some extent. This is due to both the conditions in which they operate and the regulatory and legal changes that are mainly aimed at regulating social relations in accordance with the realities of public life. Given the above, the purpose of the study was to determine the peculiarities of the activities of institutions and organisations of civil society in Ukraine under emergency legal regimes, in particular during martial law and the state of emergency. It has been found that the main part of the legal framework for the establishment and development of civil society, which is the basis for the operation of its institutions and organisations under special legal regimes, is made up of constitutional provisions, but some of them may be limited for a certain period of time. Therefore, the doctrinal component of the development and functioning of civil society remains unchanged, but the substantive components of the fundamental, human rights, functional and institutional components are modified. It has been determined that for the period of introduction of special legal regimes, some laws expand the scope of competence of public authorities in terms of their interaction with civil society institutions, as well as in terms of regulation of the latter's activities. The main measures taken to ensure national security in 2022-2023 under the legal regime of martial law and aimed at regulating the activities of civil society institutions and organisations include: regulating the grounds and procedure for terminating the activities of public associations, religious organisations, trade unions, and their associations; enshrining at the legislative level the areas of volunteer activity, simplifying the procedure for registering volunteers for the anti-terrorist operation and/or measures to ensure national security and defence, repulse and deter the armed aggression of the russian federation; the procedure for the activities of these institutions; adopting the Law of Ukraine "On media" to stimulate a competitive environment, equality and independence of the media and to protect the national interests of Ukraine and the rights of users of media services, etc. At the same time, some of the provisions formulated and adopted are not exemplary, as some of them contradict each other, which requires further research to eliminate legal conflicts and ultimately improve the activities of civil society institutions and institutions under special legal regimes.