Implementation of European legal standards into Ukraine’s transitional justice system to ensure contextual legal certainty
Keywords:
Rule of Law, Judicial Practice, Legitimate Expectations, Normative Fragmentation, State DiscretionAbstract
In the context of armed conflict and emergency legal regimes, legal certainty is a key safeguard against arbitrary law enforcement and excessive discretion. This article assesses whether Ukraine’s regulatory framework and judicial practice ensure legal certainty in a manner compatible with the standards developed by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union, while taking into account the exceptional conditions of martial law. The study was conducted in 2024-2025 using doctrinal, comparative legal and case law analysis. Ukrainian legislation, European Union law, international human rights instruments and selected judicial practice were examined through four markers: predictability of legal norms, stability of judicial practice, protection of legitimate expectations and limits of discretion. The results show that European standards are formally recognised in Ukraine, but their practical implementation remains fragmented. The article develops the concept of contextual legal certainty as a framework for distinguishing justified wartime limitations from genuine legal uncertainty in transitional justice systems.
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