Legal Expert Vsevolod Rechytskyi: “We must reflect the national code in the Constitution of Ukraine.”

The Aspen Institute Kyiv continues a series of dialogues discussing various aspects of the social contract. The Institute engages Ukrainian intellectuals and leaders from different spheres of our society. In addition, as part of the project development, the Institute has compiled a collection of essays written by leading Ukrainian thinkers. 

On January 24, the Aspen Institute Kyiv held a public discussion, “Social Contract in Ukraine: Quo Vadis?”. The speakers explored both the philosophical aspect of the social contract and its practical and methodological issues.

The legal aspect of the social contract and the need for its legislative formalization

Vsevolod Rechytsky, Lawyer, Political Scientist, and Associate Professor at UCU, spoke about the correlation between the Ukrainian social contract and the Constitution. He believes that Ukrainians need to understand their national code and reproduce it in the Basic Law. 

“Ukraine’s problem is that people with a collectivist mentality drafted the Constitution of Ukraine. At the time of voting for the Basic Law, one-third of the members of the Verkhovna Rada were communists and socialists. Therefore, what happened was only an imitation of a social contract. The so-called “national codes” need to be properly defined. According to Alvin Toffler, they are a set of principles and rules that permeate the activity of civilization as its repeating design. National codes are, in fact, pre-law, pre-constitution. The Basic Law uses them as a primary source.”

Changes that can be implemented in society with the help of the Basic Law 

The embodiment of civil liberties in the social contract should be legally backed up, says Associate Professor Rechytsky.

“Today, we discuss the future and realize that our social contract does not satisfy us. More specifically, we are unsatisfied with its legal shell, the Constitution of Ukraine. The quality of the current law would be graded as a C-minus.” 

The legal scholar emphasizes that the only thing all Ukrainians would unconditionally agree to is a system of governance in which they would retain maximum individual freedom. That is, personal freedom because collective rights do not fully reflect their aspirations. 

As an example of such a model, th Associate Professor cited the United States of America:

“The U.S. social contract sets out what Americans believe in and adhere to. It is the freedom of creativity and thought, the protection of private property that makes America itself”.

Possible steps within the social contract in the context of European integration 

Mr. Vsevolod believes that Ukraine, if its course is secured towards the European Union and NATO, needs radical “marketization,” privatization, and increased respect for private property. He also emphasized the need to create an upper house of parliament to represent the upper class.

“Such a chamber would allow for healthy conservatism and increased attention to private property. The upper house is healthy conservatism. In addition, collectivism and socialism must be put to an end, and market society must be modified.”