As Ukraine continues its courageous and fully justified defence against Russia’s war of aggression, Ukrainian policymakers have, understandably, prioritised Ukraine’s security in an immediate response to the 2022 full-scale invasion. Like all nations facing an existential threat, Ukraine has adapted and restricted portions of its democratic governance architecture to ensure robust and effective self-defence for the time being. The challenge will be to ensure an effective defence while also mitigating the long-term risks that highly securitised state structures could pose to the country’s hard fought democracy and strong civil liberties.
In the early 2000s I worked with a group of 25 international lawyers and judges to produce a harmonised approach to grass-roots justice in failed states. Experience had taught us that in a failed state, while a policy and law vacuum could be readily infilled by good intentioned executive action, their actions were nonetheless often misguided and frequently created more restrictions to civil liberties than was necessary. Our project and the model codes of criminal and civil justice produced by the group proved that strong investments in future security sector governance models can only help to successfully navigate the tension between security and democracy.
The existential threat posed by Russia is unfortunately not unique to Ukraine, with the Nordic and Baltic states frequently facing harassment or threats of aggression. Over a period of several decades, those countries — including their governments and civil societies — have worked tirelessly to seek out a conventional democratic life. These states hold elections, secure a truly impartial judiciary and ease media restrictions, among other measures, while also presenting an effective deterrence through total defence and comprehensive security measures. This encodes security throughout all major aspects of life while ensuring democracy reigns free and citizens are assured of access to durable, quality justice.
The lessons learned from Nordic and Baltic states, could represent a thoughtful roadmap for ensuring Ukraine’s democracy continues to stand strong while maintaining effective and transparent security institutions that credibly deter interstate aggression.
In the meantime the IAJ and JANZ continue to support Ukraine judges and their justice sector.