Constitutional and Legal Status of Donbass Citizens: Comparative Legal Analysis

Abstract

The article introduces some legal theories and normative acts behind the constitutional and legal status of people who live in the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. The author conducted a comparative analysis of the theoretical, constitutional, and legal foundations that define the personal legal status, rights, freedoms, and obligations stipulated by the Constitutions of Ukraine, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, and the Russian Federation. The research relied on general scientific methods of cognition, i.e., analysis and synthesis, and specific scientific methods, i.e., retrospective, comparative legal, and formal legal analyses. The resulting comprehensive assessment covered the constitutional and legal status of Donbass citizens and highlighted the transformation of their personal legal status, rights, freedoms, and obligations. The results can be used in further scientific research, teaching legal disciplines, and law-making activities connected with the status of Donbass population. Their constitutional and legal status has undergone significant changes in a short period of time. Initially based on the legislation of Ukraine, it was transformed when the self-proclaimed states of Donbass and Lugansk joined the Russian Federation. New approaches, different from the current legal habits, have to be introduces with extreme carefulness: if the transition does not run smooth, Donbass and Lugansk citizens may unintentionally violate the law or even reject the new legal realities.