The Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated September 12, 1991 No. 1545-XII “On the Procedure for the Temporary Application of Certain Legislative Acts of the USSR in the Territory of Ukraine” is still in force
Received: 16.05.2025
A request was submitted to obtain official information on whether Resolution No. 1545-XII of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, dated September 12, 1991,
titled “On the Procedure for the Temporary Application of Certain Acts of Legislation of the USSR on the Territory of Ukraine,” is still in force.
This resolution was adopted during the transitional period when Ukraine was establishing its own legal system following the declaration of independence.
However, as early as March 13, 1992, Ukraine signed the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which clearly stated:
“We, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation (RSFSR), and Ukraine — as the founding states of the USSR that signed the 1922 Union Treaty — hereby declare that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality, ceases to exist.”
This raises a logical question:
Can a resolution regulating the application of the legislation of a state that no longer exists — the USSR — remain legally valid?
Furthermore, according to Paragraph 1 of the Transitional Provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine (Section XV):
“Laws and other normative acts adopted before this Constitution came into force remain valid insofar as they do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.”
However, the Constitution does not specify from which exact year such laws and acts are considered to fall under this provision.
This leads to another important issue — from what point is the “period before the Constitution came into force” legally counted, and whether this includes documents adopted during the Soviet era
