PSEUDO-REFERENDUMS IN THE TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE: ISSUES OF LEGITIMACY AND MEANS OF RESPONSE

Abstract

The article deals with the national legislation of Ukraine and the international legal aspects of the regulation of social relations that arise during the announcement and holding of the referendum. Much attention is given to problems of holding pseudo-referendums on the territory of Ukraine by the aggressor state in 2014 and 2022. The article analyzes the norms of international legal acts regulating the issue of the declaration and holding of referendums and the main violations of the norms of international law by the aggressor state during the declaration and holding of pseudo-referendums. Particular attention is given to a study of international treaties, legal acts and the Law of Ukraine "On the All-Ukrainian Referendum". It is spoken in detail about the main requirements for holding referendums in national and international law and cases of pseudo-referendums as a form of "legitimization" of occupied territories. The author examines the relationship between the subject-object composition of legal relations that arise when the all-Ukrainian referendum is appointed and announced, the criteria for the illegitimacy of the referendum results. Considerable attention is paid to the main international approaches to conducting referendums. The article defines the principles of holding referendums in accordance with international law and the national legislation of Ukraine. It gives a detailed analysis of the foreign experience in holding a referendum and its role in public administration, in particular the experience of Estonia, Cyprus and Austria. The author focuses on the main approaches to international legal responsibility for holding pseudo-referendums with the aim of legitimizing the occupied territories. The study establishes that the application of sanctions policy is as one of the main levers of influence against the aggressor country, which, in particular, implements its aggressive policy by legalizing the territories occupied by it, using such a tool of direct democracy as the right of citizens to vote, which is implemented by participating in a referendum. At the end of the article the author draws the conclusions regarding the legal qualification of pseudo-referendums and the significance of their results for the world community and Ukraine.