The dissertation is the first monographic study of territorial defense in the defense mechanism of the Ukrainian state in legal science.
In the scientific study, a comprehensive analysis of territorial defense was carried out. The mechanism of state protection is defined as the external reflection of a set of normatively provided measures, which is the result of the purposeful influence of authorized subjects on social relations regarding the qualitative state of protection of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and democratic constitutional order and other vital national interests for the proper functioning and existence of the state regardless of external and internal circumstances. The features that are characteristic of the mechanism of state protection are singled out, namely: 1) direction on the regulation of social relations regarding the proper functioning and existence of the state, regardless of external and internal circumstances; 2) regulation by legal norms for the purpose of ensuring the values of statehood; 3) external expression in a set of measures aimed at ensuring a qualitative state of protection of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and democratic constitutional order and other vital national interests; 4) instrumental support through selected methods and means of influence, which differ depending on the period of their implementation and the legal regime of the functioning of state bodies; 5) institutional provision of entities that implement methods and means of state protection with a distinct legal status, but with a common goal of state protection, etc.
For the first time, it is proposed to interpret territorial defense as an interdisciplinary legal institution, which will meaningfully reflect a system of relatively separate and interconnected legal norms aimed at determining the conditions, means and methods of ensuring a high-quality state of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and democratic constitutional system and other vital national interests.
It has been established that the legal model of territorial defense in Ukraine is a set of legal norms that determine: 1) the essence and characteristics of territorial defense as a socio-legal phenomenon with the selection of general and special characteristics; 2) meaningful filling of activities that constitute the essence of territorial defense; 3) the institutional mechanism of territorial defense, which includes entities empowered to implement territorial defense tasks; 4) provision of territorial defense and its management direction. In Ukraine, there is a model of territorial defense that fulfills a wide range of functional purposes and is structured according to specific areas of activity and organizational structure.
The thesis on assigning territorial defense to a separate type of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which forms a component of the national resistance of Ukraine and has a complex and elemental institutional structure, is substantiated, namely: 1) subjects of the military component (military management bodies); 2) subjects of the civil component (state bodies and local self-government bodies entrusted with the tasks of ensuring the implementation and functioning of territorial defense); 3) subjects of the military-civilian component. Regardless of the place of the authorized entity in the institutional mechanism of territorial defense, it will be endowed with a set of powers to perform tasks in the field of territorial defense.
The stages of formation and development of territorial defense are distinguished: 1) the Soviet period; 2) the period of independence of Ukraine: a) from 1991 to 2013 (accumulation of knowledge about territorial defense); b) from 2014-2021 (ATO, knowledge test on territorial defense); c) from 2022 to the present time (war, standardization of knowledge about territorial defense). The activating factor for regulatory and institutional improvement of territorial defense is the need to protect the state integrity of Ukraine. At the same time, there is a connection between increasing security risks and increasing attention to issues of territorial defense, and vice versa.
