Ukraine Confirms Validity of 1991 USSR Emergency Resolution
Received: 15.01.2025
The request was submitted to obtain clarification on the meaning of the term “current version” (чинна редакція) of a normative legal act on the website zakon.rada.gov.ua.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, in its official response, confirmed that the resolution of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR dated August 19, 1991, No. 1, remains in force within the legal framework of Ukraine, holding the status of a “current version” (чинна редакція).
This means that the document, adopted by a body of the USSR, has not been repealed or annulled by Ukrainian authorities and is still considered an active normative legal act.
The Ministry’s explanation emphasized that the term “current version” refers to the valid text of a normative act, taking into account all official amendments and additions at the time of the request. In the case of this resolution, no changes have been made, and therefore, it continues to have legal effect in its original form.
Furthermore, the Ministry refers to the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” and its own competence, under which it maintains the Unified State Register of Normative Legal Acts and ensures the preservation of their official texts.
The response also states that the legal database “Legislation of Ukraine” contains electronic versions of original normative acts, including those adopted before the declaration of independence, as long as they have not been repealed or declared invalid.
The official confirmation of the continued validity of a USSR government resolution — which refers to “ensuring the vital interests of the peoples and citizens of the USSR” and protecting the integrity of the Union — creates a unique legal situation. This document, despite the change of state sovereignty, formally remains in effect within the legal space of Ukraine.
Thus, Ukraine effectively acknowledges the legal continuity of certain USSR acts, having not conducted a full legal derogation from the Soviet legal system.
This may have implications for the status of acts adopted before 1991, as well as for the legal recognition of the Ukrainian people as successors to one of the peoples of the USSR.
In particular, it preserves a formal basis for recognizing the titular nation — ethnic Ukrainians — as bearers of inherited legal subjectivity, enshrined in the normative acts of the Union.
