On August 22, 2024, in the premises of the central office of "UKRINFORM" (Kyiv) an international scientific and practical conference was held: "Protecting the independence of Ukraine: legal foundations and challenges of today." To the 33rd anniversary of the declaration of independence of Ukraine.

Co-organizers of the event were the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of State and Law named after V.M. Koretsky National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, the Research Institute of State Construction and Local Self-Government of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, with the participation of the Fund for the Institutional Development of Ukrainian Science and the League of Ukrainians of Canada.

The event brought together scientists, People's Deputies of Ukraine, politicians, civic figures, and mass media representatives. The conference demonstrated new forms of discussion and communication on the most important issues of ensuring and protecting Ukraine's independence in wartime conditions.

Thematic areas of the conference were: constitutional and legal foundations and guarantees of Ukraine's independence: from the past to the future; current problems of legal protection of independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the context of modern challenges of armed aggression of the Russian Federation; legislative innovations and modern judicial practice in the mechanism of ensuring the protection of the independence and state sovereignty of Ukraine in the conditions of martial law; institutional mechanisms and instruments for monitoring the fulfillment of the obligation to protect the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine under martial law; trends in improving legislation and law enforcement practice to increase the effectiveness of the protection of Ukraine's independence.

The conference was opened by the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Voladymyr Zhuravel. In his speech, Volodymyr Zhuravel congratulated the participants of the event and noted that the topic of the conference was certainly not chosen by chance, because the problems of national defense security are very important, urgent and priority today. "The beginning of the XXI century characterized by a change in geopolitical configurations, the presence of tendencies to revise national borders outside the norms of international law, an increased increase in the number of armed conflicts or even open warfare, the largest of which is the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The consequence of which is the destruction of the world and regional security system, the principles of international law, the complete discrediting of international institutions, primarily the United Nations and other security structures. This state of affairs forces us to reassess the level and impact of threats to the vital interests of Ukraine, to review doctrinal approaches and to decide on the strategic priorities of the national security policy and areas of improvement of the mechanisms of its implementation», — stressed Vladimir Zhuravel. Volodymyr Zhuravel offered to address an open letter to the President of Ukraine with a proposal to consider at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine the necessity and expediency of creating a new doctrine of national security and defense of Ukraine, which would take into account all the challenges and problems of today.

Congratulations were received at the conference from Volodymyr Seminozhenka, head of the North-Eastern Scientific Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, adviser to the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, member of the Coordination Council of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine . Dmytro Zhuravlev gave a welcome speech during the Conference, Deputy Head of the Department for Citizenship, Pardons, State Awards — head of the Department for Pardons of the Office of the President of Ukraine, doctor of legal sciences, professor.

After the introductory and welcoming remarks, the main part of the conference began, at which leading scientists, politicians and practitioners gave speeches, which were devoted to the current problems of legal protection of the independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the context of the modern challenges of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. In particular, at the conference, he gave a speech "The Path to Independence" the first vice-president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Olexandr Bandurka, who, being an eyewitness and direct participant in the historical events of the development and adoption of the Act of Proclamation of Independence of Ukraine on August 24, 1991, identified the most important prerequisites and events that took place in Ukraine on her "path to independence".

Speech of the director of the Institute of State and Law named after V.M. Koretsky of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, vice-president of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Olexandr Skrypniuk was dedicated to the topic "Constitutional and legal foundations of Ukraine's independence: from the past to the future". In his speech, Oleksandr Skrypnyuk emphasized that the ongoing full-scale war has put new challenges on the agenda, related to the protection of the independence of our state, with the urgent need to ensure the vital activities of the state, ensure the safety and protection of human life, its rights and freedoms during large-scale hostilities. "The history of the constitutional and legal foundations of Ukraine's independence is a complex and multifaceted process that reflects both the achievements and the problems that the state faces along the way. And today, in the conditions of war, the Ukrainian people and the state face an overwhelming task a task that is global in its complexity and scope — defense of Ukraine's independence», — Aleksandr Skrypnyuk emphasized.

The conference was attended by: Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, People's Deputy of Ukraine, Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Freedom of Speech, with reports devoted to current problems of ensuring and protecting Ukraine's independence; Natalia Onishchenko, deputy director of the Institute of State and Law named after V. M. Koretsky National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician of National Academy of Sciences of UkraineVolodymyr Utimenko, director of the V.K. Mamutov State Institute of Economic and Legal Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Mykola Velichkovich, People's Deputy of Ukraine; Volodymyr Pylypchuk, director of the State Scientific Institution «ІInstitute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Anzhelika Krusyan, academic secretary of the Institute of State and Law named after V. M. Koretsky National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, doctor of legal sciences, professor; Roman Lutskyi, director of the Research Institute of Church-Canonical and State-Legal Problems of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences King Danylo University, doctor of legal sciences, professor; Vasyl Kuybida, chief researcher of the Department of the Institute of State and Law named after V.M. Koretsky; Maria Miroshnychenko, professor of the Department of Theory and History of Law and the State of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, doctor of legal sciences, professor;Emir Abdullayev, prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office; Mykola Marchenko, executive director of the Fund for Institutional Development of Ukrainian Science, candidate of legal sciences; Oleg Malinevsky, managing partner of the Bar Association"EQUITY", vice-president of the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine, member of the Disciplinary Chamber of the KDKA of the Kyiv region, doctor of philosophy in the field of law; Anna Islamova, Deputy Executive Director of the Fund for Institutional Development of Ukrainian Science. Generally within limitsthe conference considered the constitutional and legal foundations and guarantees of Ukraine's independence. The participants of the conference noted the importance of strengthening the national security system of Ukraine, in particular, this concerns: improvement of the constitutional and legal statusArmed Forces of Ukraine; increasing the effectiveness of the cyber security mechanism, which is especially important in the conditions of the information war waged by the Russian Federation and others.

Having discussed these and other problems of domestic state-building and law-making at the current stage, the conference participants focused on the need to strengthen the protection of the independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, strengthen the foundations of constitutionalism in Ukraine, ensure constitutional principles and strengthen the guarantees of the constitutional system of Ukraine in order to ensure its sustainable development as a democratic, legal, social state, a full member of the world community, implementation of legal measures to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the conditions of challenges and trials of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Based on the results of the conference, Recommendations were adopted.