Legal Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Conditions of Armed Conflict: State and Directions of Scientific Research in Ukraine

  • Artur OGANOV

    Postgraduate Student of the Department of History and Philosophy of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Psychology and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

    03035, 1 Solomianska Sq., Kyiv, Ukraine

    https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9977-9947
  • Nataliia KUSHAKOVA-KOSTYTSKA

    Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Leading Researcher of the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific and Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

    01024, 3 Pylypa Orlyka St., Kyiv Ukraine

    https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1116-4751

Abstract

Abstract. The relevance of the study is due to the growing role of cultural heritage as a value-normative factor of legal reality in conditions of deep socio-cultural transformations, armed conflicts and crises of legitimacy of law. In modern conditions, cultural heritage increasingly appears not only as an object of protection, but also as a semantic resource for the reproduction of values, collective memory and legal identity. For Ukraine, this issue is of particular importance in connection with military aggression, systemic threats of destruction, damage and appropriation of cultural heritage objects, as well as the need for philosophical and legal rethinking of its role in the formation of value principles of law and order and legitimacy of law. The purpose of the article is to analyze the state of scientific research on cultural heritage from a legal perspective and determine the main directions of further legal research in this area. The article considers cultural heritage not only as an object of legal regulation, but also as a value-normative phenomenon of legal reality, associated with legal culture, collective identity, historical memory and the idea of intergenerational responsibility. The methodological basis of the study is a combination of axiological, ontological and hermeneutic approaches, as well as elements of interdisciplinary analysis, which allows overcoming the limitations of sectoral-legal and normative concepts and revealing the semantic dimensions of the legal understanding of cultural heritage. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the systematization of scientific approaches to the study of cultural heritage in the legal dimension. As a result of the study, the prospects for the development of legal studies of cultural heritage in the context of protecting rights, overcoming value crises and ensuring the sustainability of the legal system and national resilience are outlined.

 

Keywords: cultural heritage; legal protection; legal values, identity; legitimacy of law; stability of the legal system; national resilience.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Artur OGANOV

Postgraduate Student of the Department of History and Philosophy of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Psychology and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

03035, 1 Solomianska Sq., Kyiv, Ukraine

Nataliia KUSHAKOVA-KOSTYTSKA

Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Leading Researcher of the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific and Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

01024, 3 Pylypa Orlyka St., Kyiv Ukraine

References

Aksiutina, A. (2022). Classification of administrative and legal means of providing the population with cultural services. Scientific Bulletin of Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, 4, 178-182. DOI: 10.31733/2078-3566-2022-4-178-182

Bobko, U. (2024). Legal characteristics of protection agreements for cultural heritage monuments and newly discovered cultural heritage objects or their parts. Topical Issues in Modern Science, 10(28), 293-305. DOI: 10.52058/2786-6300-2024-10(28)-293-305

Busol, K., & Frolova, A. (2021). Cultural Heritage as an Element of National Security: The Crimean Context. Kyiv: Centre for Defence Strategies.

Dziubenko, N., Oliinyk, T., & Rybchynska, Z. (2025). Heritage for Social Cohesion During War: Cases of Ukrainian Cultural Actors. Kyiv.

Holovii, T. (2025). Formation of the category of redemption in civil law. Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University. Series "Law", 90(2), 35-42. DOI: 10.24144/2307-3322.2025.90.2.5

Holub, A. (2025). On the legal category of “cultural values” in the context of criminal liability for encroachments on them under armed conflict. Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University. Series "Law", 87(3), 269-275. DOI: 10.24144/2307-3322.2025.87.3.40

Kalishchuk, O. (2024). Legal foundations of cultural heritage protection in the EU and Ukraine: attempt at a comparative analysis. Chronicle of Volyn, 31, 62-66. DOI: 10.32782/2305-9389/2024.31.09

Kaminska, N. (2022). Modern paradigm of constitutional values and their significance under martial law. Philosophical and Methodological Problems of Law, 2(24), 86-95. DOI: 10.33270/02222402.86

Kolisnyk, V., Berchenko, H., & Slinko, T. (2022). Constitutional identity as the embodiment of constituent power. Journal of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, 29(3), 69-81. DOI: 10.31359/1993-0909-2022-29-3-69

Kostytskyi, M., Beschastnyi, V., & Kushakova-Kostytska, N. (2022). Digital constitutionalism: a new paradigm and prospects for development in Ukraine. Philosophical and Methodological Problems of Law, 2(24), 9-26. DOI: 10.33270/02222402.9

Koziubra, M.I. (2023). The hermeneutic triangle and the peculiarities of using its methodology in legal interpretation. Scientific notes of NaUKMA. Series "Legal Sciences", 11, 4-11. DOI: 10.18523/2617-2607.2023.11.4-11

Kryvolapov, B. (2022). Protection of cultural property in the context of the aggression of the Russian Federation. Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. International Relations, 56(2), 100-102. DOI: 10.17721/1728-2292.2022/2-56/100-102

Kulakova, N. (2022). Peculiarities of criminal offences encroaching on cultural property in Ukraine. Kyiv Law Journal, 4, 144-148. DOI: 10.32782/klj/2022.4.22

Kushakova-Kostytska, N., & Ohanov, A. (2024). International legal approaches to the protection of cultural heritage. Philosophical and Methodological Problems of Law, 2(28), 39-47. DOI: 10.33270/02242802.39

Liushenko, D.I., & Tuholukov, O.Ye. (2025). International unification of digital heritage standards. Juris Europensis Scientia, 2, 24-29. DOI: 10.32837/chern.v0i2.635

Musiienko, N. (2023). Cultural heritage of Ukraine in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Artistic Culture. Topical Issues, 19(2), 40-52. DOI: 10.31500/1992-5514.19(2).2023.294622

Nikorak, O.Yu. (2023). Constitutional Identity as a Category of Constitutional Law. Doctor's thesis. Lviv.

Ostapenko, O., & Baik, O. (2022). Administrative responsibility for violation of the legislation on protection of cultural heritage in Ukraine. Law, 9, 4(36), 115-124. DOI: 10.23939/law2022.36.115

Parahailo, V.O. (2021). Administrative and legal regulation of export, import and return of cultural property to Ukraine. Candidate's thesis. Kyiv.

Potapenko, V., Tyshchenko, Yu., & Kaplan, Yu. (2023). Cultural Heritage and National Security. V. Potapenko (Ed.). Kyiv: National Institute for Strategic Studies.

Pylypenko, V.P. (2025). Protection of cultural property in Ukraine in connection with Russian aggression. Legal Scientific Electronic Journal, 4, 432-437. DOI: 10.32782/2524-0374/2025-4/103

Ratushna, O.M. (2024). Cultural rights of citizens: peculiarities of ensuring and implementation. Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University. Series: Law, 86(1), 254-258. DOI: 10.24144/2307-3322.2024.86.1.37

Shmandrovskyi, A.S. (2025). Formation of cultural resilience and national identity through civil society institutions. National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts Herald, 2, 194-199. DOI: 10.32461/2226-3209.2.2025.338927

Sovhyra, T., Dykhnych, L., Solomatova, V., Malooka, L., & Tulchynska, S. (2026). Digital transformation of cultural preservation: protecting Ukraine’s heritage under military threats. Herança, 9(1), 17-29. DOI: 10.52152/heranca.v9i1/1210

Wierczyńska, K. (2025). The unrecognized genocide - rethinking the legal framework for the destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine and Gaza. Santander Art and Culture Law Review, 11(2), 57-82. DOI: 10.4467/2450050XSNR.25.017.22682


Abstract views: 28
PDF Downloads: 10
Published
2026-06-30
Section
Статті

Most read articles by the same author(s)