The dissertation is the first comprehensive systematic study of the legal basis, patterns and peculiarities of international legal cooperation on readmission between Ukraine and other states in the Ukrainian science of international law.
The study analysed and clarified the content of all international readmission treaties concluded by Ukraine, including the 2007 Readmission Agreement between Ukraine and the European Community, the implementation protocols concluded on the basis of this Agreement, as well as bilateral international agreements on readmission concluded by Ukraine with other states, including Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Russia and the Republic of Belarus.
The author proposes a classification of international readmission agreements with participation of Ukraine according to the following main criteria:
a) by the existence of a common border between Ukraine and another State party to the readmission agreement: readmission agreements with the States with which Ukraine has a common state border (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Belarus and Russia) and readmission agreements with the States with which Ukraine does not have a common state border (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Georgia, Switzerland, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam);
b) by subject matter: almost all of Ukraine’s readmission agreements are bilateral international agreements with other states, with the exception of the 2007 Readmission Agreement between Ukraine and the European Community, which is concluded with an international organisation;
c) by the level of conclusion of the readmission agreement: the vast majority of Ukraine’s readmission agreements are concluded at the level of the governments of the contracting parties, however, some readmission agreements are concluded at the highest level – interstate level, in particular, agreements with the European Union, the Republic of Belarus and the Swiss Confederation.
It is determined that all international readmission agreements with the participation of Ukraine, regardless of whether they are concluded at the interstate or intergovernmental level, have the same legal force, since the consent to be bound by all international readmission agreements is carried out at the level of the laws of Ukraine – through the ratification procedure by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as provided for in paragraph b of part two of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Treaties of Ukraine" of 29.06.2004, No. 1906-IV.
It is established that all readmission agreements with the participation of Ukraine are concluded for an unlimited (indefinite) period, in other words, indefinitely, and with the possibility of their termination upon denunciation, as stated in the text of these agreements. This practice is quite justified, since the conclusion of treaties regulating the rights and obligations of individuals for an indefinite period is common in public international law.
It is found that due to Russia’s large-scale armed aggression, the practical implementation of the 2012 Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on Readmission and the 2012 Executive Protocol on the Implementation of this Agreement became impossible, so Ukraine, guided by Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 suspended both the said Agreement (by virtue of Law No. 3359-IX of 24 August 2023) and the Executive Protocol on the Implementation of this Agreement (by virtue of Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 900 of 23 August 2023). As a result, Ukraine is released from the obligation to fulfil these agreements during the period of their suspension.
It is substantiated that the implementing protocols to readmission agreements are separate treaties, unless the readmission agreements name the relevant implementing protocols as an integral part of such agreements, since
firstly, readmission agreements themselves usually do not contain provisions that would indicate that implementing protocols are an integral part of them, for example, out of 13 international readmission agreements concluded by Ukraine, only the 2000 Agreement on Readmission with the Republic of Uzbekistan contains such a provision;
secondly, implementation protocols have all the features of a treaty, rather than an integral part of a readmission agreement, in particular, implementation protocols have their own object of legal regulation, rules on mutual obligations of the parties, rules on signing, entry into force, validity and termination, etc;
third, implementation protocols are usually concluded at a lower level than readmission agreements (in particular, implementation protocols are concluded either at the intergovernmental or even interagency level, while readmission agreements are usually concluded at the interstate or intergovernmental level).
