Development of legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of legislation regulating social relations with the participation of indigenous peoples of Ukraine, its genesis and current state of development. In chronological order, the article examines normative acts adopted since 1990, which determine the status and rights of persons belonging to the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. It is claimed that as of the beginning of 2023, in Ukraine there has been formed a full-fledged system of normative legal acts and other written sources of law of Ukraine, which regulate social relations with the participation of indigenous peoples of Ukraine in collective and individual dimensions. To designate this system, it is proposed to use the term “legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine”.
 It has been found out that, according to branch affiliation, legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine mostly covers acts of administrative legislation. At the same time, it includes acts related to constitutional, civil, criminal legislation and other branches of law. Currently, the legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine includes about fifteen acts, the "heart" of which is the Law of Ukraine "On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine". Despite the fact that the foundations of the legislative provision of the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine were laid only in the Constitution of Ukraine, clear political and legal boundaries of future legislation were outlined in advance in the founding documents of Ukrainian statehood. The evolution of legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine throughout the entire period under study was uneven and inconsistent. The author suggests dividing the history of legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine into five periods.
 Based on the results of the analysis, it is established that the legislation on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine defines many special rights of persons belonging to the indigenous peoples of Ukraine in various spheres of social life. Modern trends in the development of legislation in the sphere of ensuring the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine are also determined and promising directions of its development are outlined.