Retrospective analogies and current events in Ukraine as the origins of law-making
Authors: Vasetsky V. Yu. 
Published: December 2023

In connection with the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, an urgent problem is the search for the necessary changes in the legal sphere to ensure international peace and security both in international institutions and in the national legislation of individual states. This primarily concerns Ukraine as a state suffering from aggression. Therefore, it is appropriate to refer to historical analogies regarding the creation of organizations that were intended to oppose the outbreak of full-scale wars.

The purpose of the work is to research on the example of historical analogies the factors of the activities of international organizations of collective security, first of all the League of Nations and the United Nations, which did not allow to prevent large-scale military conflicts – the Second World War and the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as well as ascertaining and proving the need for appropriate reform in the legal sphere in the direction of collective security, which requires persistent multifaceted law-making activity, including in Ukraine, which suffers from aggression.

The following historical analogies are considered, related to the events that were the origins of significant changes in the legal sphere: the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe; the League of Nations is the first international organization created with the aim of achieving peace and security among nations, the impetus for its establishment was the consequences of the First World War; the UN is the legal successor of the League of Nations, formed in 1945 after the Second World War, which took into account the gains and miscalculations of the League of Nations. The founders of the UN are 51 states, including Ukraine.

The example of historical analogies showed that international organizations of collective security, primarily the League of Nations and the UN, were unable to fulfill their main task – to prevent large-scale military conflicts – the Second World War and the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The weakness of the League of Nations as a peacekeeping tool was determined to some extent by its Organization’s Charter, the need for the consent of all members of the organization to take measures against the aggressor. It is noted that the UN, although it took into account the achievements and miscalculations of its predecessor – the League of Nations, was unable to ensure international peace to the required extent. This was manifested, in particular, in the activities of the UN Security Council as a body that bears the main responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The weakness of the Security Council is that each of its permanent members has the right of veto. This was especially shamefully manifested during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Issues of aggression, acts of genocide, and war crimes are constantly brought up for discussion by the Security Council, but this body cannot make a single decision due to the imposition of a veto by the aggressor country – Russia.

It was concluded that after the victory of Ukraine, we can expect a significant improvement in the legal sphere in the direction of changes in the activity, representation and decision-making rules of the reformed collective security organizations. It was emphasized that, despite the state of war, Ukraine should pay attention to the law-making work to create conditions to prevent existing terrible events in the future.

Key words: Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, League of Nations, United Nations, reforming the collective security system, law-making activity.