Lawfare as part of hybrid wars: The experience of Ukraine in conflict with Russian Federation
Journal Title: Security and Defence Quarterly - Year 2021, Vol 33, Issue 1
Abstract
The main objective of the article is to prove the need for the state to have a centralised legal strategy to ensure the protection of state interests on an international level during a hybrid conflict. Centralisation of control and the planning and implementation of legal actions on an international level are core elements of such a strategy, especially for actions under the jurisdiction of international institutions. This article provides an analysis of treaties and of the practice of adjudication in Ukraine during the conflict with the Russian Federation. The findings of the study show that the legal dimension of hybrid conflict has some sub-levels: legal actions of states in hybrid conflicts taken at interstate level; the level of enterprises controlled by the state; and the private level. The practice of Ukraine shows that the exercising of a multilevel legal encounter during a hybrid war faces a number of problems including the intersection of actions (sometimes even direct conflict), even among authorities involved in the legal protection of state interests; and problems with collecting and analysing the information necessary to protect state interests in the legal dimension; state authorities that are not directly involved in a legal encounter may exercise actions which will complicate the legal position of the state. One of the first steps taken by the state in a hybrid conflict is, therefore, to create special authority or entrust an existing one with the coordination of the functions of lawfare. The next step of such an authority is the strategic "programming" of the opponent's legal actions with the aim of achieving an advantage in the legal dimension of a hybrid conflict.
Authors and Affiliations
Zakhar Tropin
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP705812
- DOI https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/132025
- Views 94
- Downloads 0
An analysis of popular justice on Polish Facebook discussion groups
The subject of this article is the efficiency of popular justice as the informal mechanism of public safety production on the example of Polish users of facebook.com. The investigation was based on the empirical data col...
The securitisation of hybrid warfare through practices within the Iran-Israel conflict - Israel's practices to securitize Hezbollah's Proxy War
Iran has been waging a hybrid war against Israel since the Islamic revolution of 1979. In an era when conventional wars have given way to a different method, hybrid warfare, the main challenge facing states is how to dea...
The evolution of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ volunteer reserve component after the Cold War
When Hungary transformed to an all-volunteer force in 2004, most attention was given to the regular component and very little mention was made of reservists. The main goal of this study is to draw attention to the import...
Polish-Ukrainian military units in the years 1991-2018
The history and traditions of Polish-Ukrainian military contacts are as rich as the relations between the two nations. Intensive military cooperation dates back to the mid-16th century and is connected with the pursuit o...
Military Cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union under the Association Agreement and an issue of state sovereignty.
The article deals with the complex investigation of the content of the draft Association Agreement with the European Union in the context of military collaboration proceeding from the theory of International Law. Special...