administrations, and their heads became the
heads of those military administrations.
Such actions were carried out to implement the
provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal
Regime of Martial Law” (Law of Ukraine
No. 389-VIII, 2015). Its provisions establish that
in the territories where martial law has been
introduced, the temporary state authorities –
military administrations – can be formed to
ensure the operation of the Constitution and laws
of Ukraine, introduction and implementation of
measures of the legal regime of martial law,
defence, civil protection, public safety and order,
protection of critical infrastructure, rights,
freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens
together with the military command. Moreover,
it is clarified that the military administrations of
the localities are formed from servicemen of
military formations in accordance with the laws
of Ukraine, members of the rank and file and
higher officers of law enforcement agencies, civil
protection services, who are sent to them in
accordance with the law to perform tasks in the
interests of the State defence and its security
while remaining in military service, service in
law enforcement agencies, civil defence bodies
and units without exclusion from personnel lists,
as well as employees who have entered into an
employment contract with regional military
administrations (in case of their formation) or
with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine (if a regional military administration has
not been formed in the relevant region). The list
of positions in the military administrations of the
localities, which are subject to replacement by
military personnel from military formations,
members of the rank and file and higher officers
of law enforcement agencies, as well as the list
of positions that can be filled by military
personnel from military formations, members of
the rank and file and higher officers of law
enforcement agencies in the district, regional
military administration, are approved by the
President of Ukraine at the request of the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine.
It is noteworthy that the responsibilities for
direction, coordination and control over the
activities of military administrations are
distributed between the General Staff of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine within their powers.
Separately, we note that in addition to military
administrations, current Ukrainian legislation
provides for the possibility to form military-
civilian administrations. The Law of Ukraine
“On military-civilian administrations” (Law of
Ukraine No. 141-VIII, 2015) establishes that
military-civilian administrations are formed as a
temporary forced measure with elements of a
military management organization to ensure
safety and normalization of people’s life in the
area of repelling armed aggression of the Russian
Federation, in particular in the area of the anti-
terrorist operation, which does not aim to change
and/or cancel the constitutionally enshrined right
of territorial communities to local self-
government.
The provisions of this Law caused discussions. In
particular, the termination of the powers of
representative and executive bodies of local self-
government, their apparatuses and officials, the
entire body of deputies of local councils deprives
the territorial communities of the right to local
self-government, which seems unacceptable
from the standpoint of constitutional
prescriptions and the requirements of the
European Charter of Local Self-Government,
compliance with which is one of Ukraine’s key
international obligations. In addition, the
unconditional dismissal of all employees of
executive bodies and apparatuses of the Council
can be considered as a groundless violation of
their labour rights.
Therefore, in 2017, the Draft Law of Ukraine
Nо. 7090 “On Military-Civil Administration”
(2017) was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine. This Law specified that military-civil
administration includes a set of temporary forced
measures with the elements of State
administration and lies in the exercise of powers
by the district, regional State administration and
the military-civilian administrator of the
localities on ensuring law and order, safety and
life of the population and/or the exercise of
powers of the relevant district, regional, village,
settlement, city councils and heads of villages,
settlements, and cities, as well as in the specifics
of local self-government in the relevant territory.
In particular, this legal act provided that if the
military-civilian administration is introduced on
the territory of the district or region exclusively
for the exercise of powers in the spheres of
ensuring law and order, security and life of the
population, the relevant district, regional council,
its executive apparatus, officials of local self-
government, council deputies continue to
exercise their powers to the extent provided for
by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.
However, this draft law was withdrawn.