PUBLIC-LAW ASPECTS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL ZONES AROUND MILITARY FACILITIES

Abstract

Entry. The article examines the public-law aspects of establishing special zones around military facilities in Ukraine in the context of the increasing importance of defence lands and the strengthening of the State’s security function. The scholarly meaning of the concept of special zones is revealed as a generalizing doctrinal category encompassing protective, security, regime, water protection, and other zones with special conditions of use established around military and other defence-related facilities under land legislation. It is substantiated that the legal nature of such zones is complex and is formed at the intersection of administrative, land, cadastral, land management, urban-planning, and defence legislation.

Aim. The aim of the article is to clarify the public-law nature of special zones that may be established around military facilities, to determine the place and role of public administration bodies in shaping their legal regime, to analyse the current legal regulation governing their establishment and registration, and to substantiate the main directions for improving Ukrainian legislation in this field.

Materials and Methods. The methodological framework of the study is based on general scientific and special legal methods, in particular formal-legal, systemic-structural, comparative-legal, and logical-dogmatic methods. The regulatory framework includes the Land Code of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine governing the use of defence lands, cadastral, land-management, and administrative-procedural regulation, as well as subordinate legislation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The theoretical basis of the study is formed by the works of Ukrainian scholars devoted to land-use restrictions, cadastral registration, the digitalisation of land administration, and the legal certainty of land relations under martial law.

Results. It has been established that the establishment of special zones around military facilities constitutes a complex public-law process encompassing the preparation of documentation, the determination of boundaries, the state registration of restrictions, and the entry of relevant information into the State Land Cadastre. The study identifies the fragmented nature of the current legal regulation and the absence of a single special legal act that would comprehensively govern the establishment, modification, termination, and registration of such zones. The necessity of terminological unification, a clear delimitation of the competence of authorised entities, the regulatory consolidation of a special administrative procedure, and the strengthening of the role of geospatial data is substantiated.

Prospects. The results of the study may be used in legislative drafting and law-enforcement practice. Further research should focus on developing an integrated model of a special administrative procedure and improving the digital registration of land-use restrictions.