Constitutional and legal principles of the organization and functioning of the system of entities ensuring the national security and defense of Ukraine

Abstract

The aggressive policy of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, resulting in the annexation of the Crimea peninsula, further aggression in eastern Ukraine in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and widescale invasion into Ukraine after 24.02.2022, has left no questions about the relevance of the field of national security and defense in Ukraine. In turn, Ukraine, as a legal democratic state, can implement measures for national security and defense only in accordance with legal procedures, which, in turn, highlights the research on the legal support of the activities of subjects of national security and defense in Ukraine. The aim of this research is to determine an exhaustive list of subjects that may be considered part of Ukraine's national security and defense. The research is based on the Constitution of Ukraine, Laws of Ukraine (including Constitutional Laws understood as laws whose existence is already foreseen by the content of the Constitution of Ukraine), and subordinate normative legal acts. This research primarily utilizes comparative-analytical and functional research methods. An exhaustive list of subjects of national security and defense in Ukraine is not specified in any legislative act, and the only normatively regulated list, similar to the subject of the research, is established only in the Law of Ukraine "On National Security of Ukraine" as a "security and defense sector," the definition of which is given in the form of a list of subjects whose functional activities are aimed at protecting Ukraine's national interests from threats. The national security interests include state sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic constitutional order, economic and information security, human life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and safety, rights and freedoms, restoration of territorial integrity within the internationally recognized state border of Ukraine, social development, primarily the development of human capital, protection of the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of Ukrainian citizens; European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Thus, the significant number of the aforementioned national security interests does not allow considering the list of subjects in the security and defense sector as exhaustive, and consequently, there is a need for a more detailed study of this issue.

Keywords

• national security and defense, hybrid armed conflict, security and defense sector, constitution of ukraine, subject composition, legal regulation.