Kovnyi Y. State ethno-national policy in Ukraine: a theoretical and legal study

The dissertation is devoted to solving scientific and applied problem of significant importance to legal science, which involves a complex theoretical and legal comprehension of state ethno-national policy of Ukraine through the analysis of legal status of the key subjects of ethno-national relations (indigenous peoples, national minorities) and development of an effective mechanism to guarantee the protection of their rights and legitimate interests. To achieve the goal and accomplish the tasks of research, the author's methodological structure has been outlined, comprising a set of approaches and a three-tiered system of methods. The empirical basis of the research consists of results of international reports and complex summaries, international and national statistical indicators, normative sources, practice materials of foreign countries, litigation of European Court of Human Rights (more than 30 cases) and data from a survey that was conducted in different regions of Ukraine (Volyn, Lviv, Carpathia, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia - the last one was conducted before the start of the war on February 24, 2022) during 2020-2023 among three focus groups: 356 citizens of Ukraine who identify themselves as Ukrainians as representatives of the titular nation and 62 representatives of indigenous peoples, among the majority of whom were Crimean Tatars and 142 persons positioned themselves as representatives of national minorities. The author proposed his own conceptual and categorical apparatus of state ethno-national policy, in particular the following terms: "legal policy of the state", "state ethno-national policy", "principles of ethno-national policy", "the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples", "national minority", "antigypsyism". In the first section, "Scientific concepts of state ethno-national policy", the conceptual and categorical apparatus in the field of state ethno-national policy, the methodological basis of the research, the meaning and legal nature of the state ethno-national policy are examined. In the second section, "Basic legal standards of ethno-national policy in a democratic state", the analysis of the principles of the ethno-national policy of a democratic state is represented, the international and national standards of the policy of preventing discrimination on the basis of national and ethnic characteristics are considered, and the benchmarks for the formation of non-discrimination on the basis of ethnic and national characteristics in certain spheres of social relations are highlighted. In the third section, "National minorities as subjects of state ethno-national policy", a general theoretical analysis of the status of national minorities is conducted. A system of their rights is outlined, and improvements to existing national legislation in this area are proposed. Special attention is devoted to the legal regulation of the status of Roma as a unique national minority. The fourth section, "Current trends of legal regulation and implementation of the policy of protection of indigenous peoples", contains three subsections, in which the theoretical and legal reflection of the legal position of indigenous peoples is revealed, the application of their rights is determined, and the legal regulation of this ethno-national group in Ukraine is analyzed and improvements are proposed in accordance with the positive international practices and value standards. In the fifth section, "Guarantees for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of the subjects of ethno-national policy", the system of regulatory and institutional guarantees at the international, regional, and national levels is singled out and improvements are proposed to ensure the proper implementation of the mechanism for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of ethno-national groups and their coordination with the national values.