What does the term “national” mean for the people and for law: an essay on the war in Ukraine, cultural values, trust property, and more

The article examines the legal aspects of preserving objects of national importance, all that is necessary for the people, the nation, not only for its survival and existence, but also for positioning itself as such. These include economic infrastructure, cultural heritage, technologically significant, as well as infrastructure, educational, scientific and other facilities. The authors analyse the legal problems of maintaining and preserving property, protecting rights to it in a full-scale war, including the issues of nationalisation and property management in areas of military conflict. The article outlines the problems of preserving Ukraine’s cultural heritage, which are exacerbated despite the existence of international legal norms and which are demonstrated by the lack of budgetary funds and the uncertainty of the legal regime of certain objects. The authors call for a legal solution to the issues of preservation and management of national values, in particular through the introduction of models that ensure a balance between public and private interests.

The article examines the British experience of trust mechanisms and the possibility of their application in Ukrainian law, in particular, trust ownership. One of the aspects that hinders this is the lack of clear legal regulation of trust ownership in Ukraine, despite its formal existence in the legislation. The Civil Code of Ukraine itself contains two conflicting models of trust ownership and lacks mechanisms that would clearly define the role of beneficiaries. At the same time, the rules of public law of Ukraine widely operate with terms that should be primarily enshrined in the rules of private law.

The legal status of national joint-stock companies and the legal regime of their property, in particular, the problems of regulation and contradictions between the Civil and Commercial Codes, are considered. The author analyses the cases of creation of private law legal entities by the state, which raises questions about their legal status and the grounds for considering them ’national’. Particular attention is paid to the legal positions of the Supreme Court, which determines that the property of national joint-stock companies remains the object of state ownership, and the company owns its own property on the right of economic management. The author analyses the trends in legislative regulation of property rights and, in particular, the rights of legal entities established by the state to their property, which follows from legislative activity in this area. The author points out the shortcomings of the approach which is planned to reform property rights on the basis of usufruct without introducing appropriate amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine. The author emphasises the lack of a conceptual approach to legal regulation of these issues. The author suggests that companies with the status of national companies should serve national interests, and this should be reflected in their legal status and property regime.