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Article title Does Law Able to do Something with War?
Authors
OLEKSIY STOVBA
Doctor of Law, Chief Researcher of the National Scientific Center “Institute of Forensic Expertise named after Honored Prof. M. S. Bokarius” of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Ukraine) stovba@mail.com
Magazine name Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version)
Magazine number 10 / 2024
Pages 13 - 27
Annotation

The article provides a philosophical and legal understanding of the war between Ukraine and the RF. The methodological basis of this study is the concept of the “Nomos of the Earth” by the famous German lawyer K. Schmitt. At the same time, “Nomos” is not taken in its traditional sense as a positive law that is opposed to ‘physis’ as a natural law. By “Nomos of the Earth”, the German legal philosopher understands the event of measuring the earth, the essence of which is the phenomena of ordering and localisation. Due to this event, both positive and natural law receive their ontological foundation. In turn, the historical equivalent of Nomos is the act of seizure of land. According to the German legal scientist, it is the historical event of the distribution and appropriation of land that establishes the political, economic and legal order. Any right has its origin in a certain designated territory. At the same time, the seizure of land should not be understood as a purely arbitrary, armed takeover. Therefore, the article sets out the criteria (consent of the legal sovereign, consent of the overwhelming majority of subjects of international law, consent of the indigenous population of the occupied territory) by which the actual seizure of land turns into a legal event that can be included in the global or continental legal order. A logical consequence of this procedure is a rethinking of the phenomenon of war, which is understood as an armed conflict between equal sovereigns that is conducted according to certain rules. If these rules are violated, it is no longer a war, but a punitive action against the aggressor as a violator of international law. Therefore, the law aims not to prohibit but to limit war. As a result, the author concludes that law in time of war applies only to equal subjects and has three main directions of action: punishment, forgiveness (amnesty) and reconciliation.

Keywords natural law; positive law; war; land grabbing; equality; occupation
References

Bibliography

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