Stages in the Development of Ukraine’s Institution of Advocacy in the Context of Ukrainian Statehood Periodization

Abstract

The article analyses the key stages in the development of Ukraine’s institution of advocacy. The study explores this process within the broader framework of Ukrainian statehood periodization, highlighting the interconnections between the evolution of the advocacy institution and the transformations of state organization, legal systems, and political-legal regimes.

The history of Ukrainian statehood consists of four stages: the first – the princely era; the second – the Cossack era (the Hetmanate); the third – the Ukrainian National Revolution; and the fourth – the modern independent Ukrainian state. The existence of the Galicia-Volhynia State was of particular importance for the formation of Ukrainian statehood.

At the same time, Ukraine experienced several stages of historical existence: statehood, semi-statehood, and statelessness. Over 826 years (from 1199 to 2025), Ukraine spent more time in conditions of semi-state existence (344 years) than in the process of full-fledged state-building (249 years), which complicates the perception of these periods as stages in the existence of a single continuous Ukrainian statehood. Moreover, Ukraine has a unique historical experience of reviving its state-building process even after centuries of foreign domination during the stateless stage (233 years). The prolonged absence of an independent state created the necessity to seek and defend a distinct position within foreign state structures. In this context, the institution of advocacy played an important role.

Seven stages of the development of Ukraine’s institution of advocacy are identified. The article examines the stages in the development of Ukraine’s institution of advocacy within the context of the periodization of the historical existence of Ukrainian statehood. It is established that three of these stages (Kyivan Rus and the Galicia-Volhynia Principality; the Ukrainian National Revolution; and the modern independent Ukrainian state) correspond to full-fledged stages of Ukrainian state formation. Three stages (the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia; the Hetmanate; the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) belong to the semi-state phase. Finally, one stage (the period of incorporation into the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires) corresponds to a period of statelessness.

Periods of strengthening state autonomy and sovereignty were accompanied by an expansion of powers and an increase in self-governance within the advocacy profession, whereas under imperial and totalitarian regimes its independence was significantly restricted. Today, the institution of advocacy is becoming established as an integral component of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.