The Right to Defend the Homeland v. the Duty to Defend the Homeland

Abstract

The central issue in the context of the russo-ukrainian war due to the aggression of the Russian Federation is the interpretation of whether it should be interpreted as the right to defense or as the duty to defend the Motherland. The problem seems to be understudied in the literature, although in fact it is revealed in considerable detail from the point of view of national security and extraordinary protection of the constitution. The article reveals the structure of the right to defend the Homeland in the context of existential threats to the Ukrainian nation through the lens of positive duties of the State and the principle of republicanism as the basis for joint activities of citizens. The author proposes an approach to resolving the dilemma of the right/obligation to defend the Homeland as ensuring the security space of free citizens and identifies the main components of the subjective public right to defend the Homeland and the obligations of the State which correspond to it. The structure of the right to defence of the Homeland consists of a set of institutional and procedural means of ensuring Ukraine’s defence capability as a security space for citizens who exercise their right to defend Ukraine, and the State’s obligations to 1) keeping records of the population capable of performing functions of defending the Motherland; 2) organizing military training and teaching tactical medicine to citizens; 3) providing the population with military ammunition and their effective administration; 4) organizing the controllability of the national defence system in the event of a military The notion of defence of the Homeland as the right to resist despotism and aggression is crucial in understanding the structure of the responsibilities of the State of Ukraine and the corresponding joint activities of citizens to implement systematic measures to build an effective defence capability of the nation and the State. Building up the territorial defence forces makes it possible to quickly deploy military units in case of an enemy troop breakthrough into the rear of the national territory and provide them with a worthy response, destroying enemy military units and conducting adequate retaliatory operations.