The significance and applicability of the principle of the territorial integrity of the state: a constitutional law response to contemporary challenges
The significance and applicability of the principle of the territorial integrity of the state: a constitutional law response to contemporary challenges

Summary/Abstract: The unity and territorial integrity of the state are among the most complex objects of scientific inquiry. In the study of these characteristics, specific to any state, multiple assessments and tendencies, social and political interests, as well as diverse ideological perspectives of researchers intertwine, which accounts for the divergence of the views expressed. Although legal doctrine contains numerous valuable approaches to the issue of territory in relation to the Constitution, scholarly interest in the problem of the state's unity and territorial integrity remains constant. An analysis of the experience gained in various states regarding the legal safeguarding of unity and territorial integrity demonstrates the necessity of establishing a generally accepted definition of the concept of “territorial integrity”, identifying the mechanisms by which it is ensured, determining the hierarchy of authorities involved in guaranteeing territorial integrity, and defining the grounds and procedures for the application of measures intended to secure territorial integrity. In pursuit of these objectives, a methodological repertoire was employed that includes, in particular, the logical method, which enabled the examination and clarification of various views concerning the concept of “state integrity”, and the systemic method, which made it possible to identify certain types of modes of interaction, and patterns of functioning between the “whole” and its constituent parts, thereby highlighting their role and importance in maintaining state integrity. Through the application of these methods, it was established that the state possesses a series of individual features. Recognizing the diversity of the forms of state integrity, continually interacting and interdependent, it was determined that one of the essential tasks of the state, within the inevitable process of evolutionary transformation prompted by integration into the European and international legal sphere, consists in the preservation of identity elements historically established to be well-founded and validated both by the experience of other states and by the reliability of its own state mechanism.

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