Human rights at the core of Ukraine’s security policy: the principle of proportionality and European standards of sanctions practice

The article examines the normative and doctrinal foundations of integrating human rights into Ukraine’s contemporary security architecture, with particular attention to the principle of proportionality and the alignment of Ukraine’s restrictive measures with European standards of sanctions practice. The research emphasizes that the full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine has fundamentally transformed the relationship between security imperatives and fundamental rights, making proportionality a key criterion for assessing the legitimacy of wartime restrictions. The article systematizes international legal approaches to proportionality as a mechanism ensuring that interferences with human rights remain necessary, suitable, and strictly limited to achieving a legitimate aim, including national security. Special attention is devoted to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which consistently stresses that emergency situations do not remove the obligation of states to respect the rule of law and judicial oversight, and that derogations under Article 15 of the Convention cannot justify arbitrary measures. The study also analyses the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union on sanctions, particularly the Rosneft judgment, which affirmed the requirement of proportionality, legal certainty, and effective judicial protection in EU restrictive measures. The article evaluates the evolution of Ukraine’s sanctions policy, its convergence with EU instruments, and the challenges of ensuring adequate procedural guarantees and protection from excessive interference, especially when sanctions affect Ukrainian citizens. The research demonstrates that embedding human rights standards into Ukraine’s security policy is not merely a normative obligation but a prerequisite for strengthening democratic resilience and achieving compatibility with the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU. The conclusions propose conceptual directions for improving national sanctions legislation through the incorporation of proportionality benchmarks, enhanced judicial review, and clearer alignment with international human rights standards.