Prohibition of political parties under the conditions of marital state
Authors: Batanova Nataliia 
Published: December 2024

The Constitution of Ukraine and the Law «On Political Parties in Ukraine» not only define and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian citizens to freedom of association in political parties, but also provide for a comprehensive system of restrictions on the formation and activity of political parties by state authorities, which is fully in line with international the practice of legal regulation of political parties’ status.

The purpose and task of the article is to study the problems of banning political parties as a measure of constitutional and legal responsibility under martial law.

Art. 5 of the Law «On Political Parties in Ukraine» establishes restrictions on the formation and activity of political parties, which are normative grounds for the constitutional and legal responsibility of political parties.

The beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the introduction of martial law led to radical changes in the regulation and functioning of the institution of political parties. Thus, on March 18, 2022, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine adopted a Decision on the suspension of the activities of certain political parties, which was put into eﬀect by the Presidential Decree and for the period of martial law, it was decided to suspend any activities of 11 political parties in Ukraine.

It should be noted that in the period from March to May 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine changed the grounds for banning political parties four times. Expanding the grounds for applying such a constitutional and legal sanction as banning political parties through the adoption of amendments to the relevant legislation and changing the jurisdiction of such cases were positive steps, which made it possible to quickly respond to the challenges of martial law to prevent the illegal activities of political parties that encroach on the foundations of the constitutional order, territorial integrity and security of the state, promote pro-Russian ideas and justify Russian aggression.

The judicial practice of banning political parties in Ukraine is studied. During 2022–2023, decisions were made to ban 18 political parties. It is positive that in the cases of banning political parties, the Administrative Court of Appeal repeatedly referred to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the concept of militant democracy.

In the conditions of a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, in accordance with the concept of a «democracy capable of defending itself», the activities of political parties that encroach on the territorial integrity, security and constitutional order of Ukraine, support the aggressor state should be prohibited by court order. The decision to apply such a constitutional and legal sanction as the banning of a political party must be properly substantiated, based on a proper evidence base, not taken hastily, meet international standards, in order to make it impossible to challenge Ukraine’s actions to the European Court of Human Rights. The constitutional and legal regulation of the grounds for banning political parties and the mechanism for its implementation also needs improvement.

Key words: prohibition of a political party, constitutional and legal responsibility, constitutional delict, constitutional and legal sanction, political party, constitutional order, martial law.