Dynamics of the development of the legal regulation of weapons traffic on the territory of Ukraine from the 11th to the middle of the 19th century

Abstract

Summary. The dynamics of changes in the legal regulation of weapons circulation on the territory of Ukraine from the 11^th century to 1840 are considered. The characteristics of the legal regulation of weapons circulation in historical retrospect are given. The impact of the forms of Ukrainian statehood on the legal regulation of arms circulation is considered. The influence of the state system on the restrictions established by legal acts in the context of weapons circulation is shown. A brief scientific and practical analysis of the documents that regulated the circulation of weapons is given ("Ruska Pravda", "Magdeburg Law", "Seym Constitutions", "Lithuanian Statutes" of 1529, 1566 and 1588, "Council Regulations" of 1649, "Rights under which the people of Little Russia are on trial" of 1743). It is substantiated that taking into account the historical experience of the legal regulation of the circulation of weapons on the territory of Ukraine can become the foundation for improving the legal regulation of the circulation of weapons at the current stage in various aspects of the problems of the industry (production, sale, possession, storage, carrying, use, etc.). It was concluded that in historical retrospect the right to own weapons as such was not regulated. Anyone who had the economic capacity and desire could buy a weapon. Instead, criminal liability was established for crimes committed with the use of weapons. The production of weapons in cities was regulated by the city Magdeburg law and local normative legal acts, taking into account this experience in the context of decentralization in Ukraine can become an effective source of filling local budgets and to some extent ensure the defense needs of the regions. The needs for weapons and armaments were regulated by the decrees of the highest political leadership, regardless of the form of the state system, which at one time or another prevailed on the territory of Ukraine in the period from the 11^th century until 1840. The change in the legal acts that regulated the circulation of weapons was conditioned by the change in the state system, which in one or another period that we outlined dominated the Ukrainian lands. On June 25, 1840, by the decree of Nicholas I, the Lithuanian statute was canceled in Ukraine and all-Russian laws were introduced. We consider this date to be the starting point of the "legislative expansion" that Russia tried to carry out in the territories of Ukraine until 1991 (and after 2014 in the temporarily occupied territories), including in the context of legal regulation of arms circulation.