“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 37 (2026), pages 397–411.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2026-37-397-411

Kresina Iryna
The right to the truth: problems of conceptualization and implementation in the conditions of the russian-Ukrainian war

ISSN online: 2617-9776 print: 0869-2491

The phenomenon of the right to the truth is studied here and its author’s definition is proposed. The evolution of the scientific understanding of its essence is traced, the development of normative consolidation in international and national legal acts is proposed. Some effective mechanisms for implementing the right to the truth in wartime are proposed.

A number of author’s conceptual conclusions and legislative proposals are formulated. 1) The bearers of the right to the truth are both an individual (individual right) and society (collective right), and the subject responsible for observing the right to the truth is the state represented by authorized oficials and government bodies. 2) The right to the truth should be enshrined in law in order to provide it with mandatory status. This will contribute to the legitimization of all activities of the state and society to establish the values of justice and national dignity in Ukrainian society, and will launch mechanisms and tools for implementing the right to the truth even during wartime. 3) The application of transitional justice instruments in Ukraine, in particular truth commissions, and their institutionalization should be carried out taking into account the situation in the country and in the regions, social and economic conditions, the state of development of political and legal culture (in particular, anti-corruption), the readiness of both the authorities and public associations for an active and honest dialogue on urgent problems in ensuring the right to truth in society. This is about the need to apply instruments for implementation of the right to truth not after the end, but already in wartime, in order to ensure the stability of society. Given the interstate nature of the war, society’s right to truth (collective political right) should be ensured not only by decisions of truth commissions, but also by the verdict of a special international tribunal. 4) The right to the truth — both the individual right of a citizen, of victims and their relatives to know the truth about specific crimes, about the fate of missing relatives, and the collective right of the people, nation, society to be aware of military events, crimes, mass offenses, corrupt actions of individual oficials and about the progress of the investigation and punishment of the guilty — in modern Ukrainian realities should be recognized as a separate political and civil right, legally enshrined and constitutionalized (in the new Constitution). 5) Such an understanding of the right to the truth, in the context of the russian-Ukrainian war, means a new stage in its development and institutionalization. This will also contribute to the development of international law in terms of interpretation of this right as a separate political and civil right (individual and collective), which requires consolidation in international legal acts and which will contribute to the stabilization of a society in a state of prolonged full-scale interstate war, and to the observance of human rights and civil liberties.

Keywords: truth, justice, society, the law, right to the truth, human rights, international legal act.

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Дата першого надходження рукопису до видання: 28.01.2026
Дата прийнятого до друку рукопису після рецензування: 03.03.2026
Дата публікації: 24.03.2026