FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW IN UKRAINE (IX – FIRST HALF OF THE XVII CENTURY)
Authors:   Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University, Ukraine, Martyniuk Oleksii 
Published: May 2022

Research is devoted to the study of the process of formation and development of norms and institutions of international trade law in Ukraine in the IX – first half of the XVII centuries. International trade law in modern Ukraine began to take shape on the basis of customs as international trade could not develop spontaneously. The study found that during the formation of Kievan Rus as a powerful state the international treaty is gradually becoming the main source of international law. The process of concluding international agreements in the early tenth century divided into stages, which included: preparation and acceptance of the terms of the agreement, consent to its binding force, signing and guaranteeing the implementation of the international agreement. The analysis of Rus- Byzantium treaties gives the grounds to claim that they were all concluded in the form of international treaties contained the rules of international trade law and were public law. The paper emphasizes that in the field of international law the principles and norms of law of international treaties (pacta sunt servanda), international trade and maritime law as well as diplomatic (ambassadorial) law are beginning to take shape. Among the principles of international trade law the principle of mutual interest and respect is important which was mostly reflected in the then international treaties and became the basis for the future formation of a broader principle – the principle of reciprocity. The process of evolution of norms and institutions of international trade law in the second half of the fourteenth – first half of the seventeenth centuries was influenced by a certain economic decline of Ukrainian lands due to the Mongol-Tatar invasion. However the expansion of commodity production as well as the further development of international, political, economic and social relations contributed to the further genesis of international trade law. The main sources of international trade law were international trade custom, international legal treaty, the rules of Magdeburg law. The norms of customary commercial law regulated first of all the legal relations between members of trade corporate guilds. The purpose of an international legal agreement was to establish, change or terminate rights and responsibilities in various interstate relations. The nature of international treaties was political but their content and the principles of compliance by the parties directly affected trade relations between states and other subjects of international trade law. In terms of the number of contracting parties the agreements were usually bilateral. The development of norms and institutions of international trade law in the second half of the fourteenth – first half of the seventeenth centuries was characterized primarily by the spread of Magdeburg law which led to the inclusion of international trade law in the system of municipal (city) law. The norms of Magdeburg law established the procedure for electing the city authorities and its functions determined the activities of merchants’ associations, the procedure for trade, etc. In the cities according to the norms of Magdeburg law there was a well-established legal terminology which simplified the conclusion of commercial agreements between local and foreign merchants.