Students received awards for their projects on a security agreement for Ukraine

The Ukrainian National Bar Association hosted an awards ceremony for the winners of the All-Ukrainian competition for student law-making initiatives «New Ukraine: a security treaty through the eyes of young advocates».

The competition focused on developing student proposals for an international legal treaty for Ukraine following the end of the war. It was organized by the Legal Information Center, professional development and expert research at the V. Hetman Kyiv National Economic University Law Institute in collaboration with the UNBA NextGen.

First place went to Anzhelika Ivanitska, a student at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Her work was recognized for its high level of legal technique, structure, and doctrinal depth. Second place went to a representative of the same university, Iryna Yevdchenko, for her innovative conceptual architecture, particularly the idea of a digital embassy and the 24/72 algorithm. Third place was awarded to Anna Korniyash from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. A special prize from the organizers was awarded to Yevgen Zhurakovsky, a student at the Ivano-Frankivsk Institute «Odessa Law Academy», for an original law-making idea, specifically the mechanism of an incomplete session and the approach to the succession of obligations.

The winners received cash prizes ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 UAH. The prize fund was provided by the law firms Barristers and DGRAVITY LEGAL.

During the ceremony, Oleksiy Shevchuk, chairman of the Legal Information Center at the V. Hetman KNEU, emphasized that this is the first time such an initiative has been held in Ukraine, and its participants have effectively become pioneers in a new format for engaging students in law-making work in the fields of national security and international law.

According to him, it is important that talented young people do not seek opportunities for professional development solely abroad, but can realize their potential in Ukraine. That is why the organizers plan to make the competition an annual event.

The winners’ works will not remain merely competition projects. In the future, they plan to present them in diplomatic circles, in particular with the participation of representatives of the Council of Europe, as well as to present them at the level of state institutions involved in issues of international responsibility for crimes committed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

O. Shevchuk also drew the students’ attention to the practical significance of participating in the competition. According to him, winning the all-Ukrainian competition on drafting a security treaty could become an important element of young lawyers’ professional portfolios and a first step toward working in international legal institutions.

The winners thanked the organizers for the opportunity to present their own ideas. In particular, A. Ivanitskaya noted that, while studying legislative activities and regulatory drafting, she had been looking for an opportunity to prove herself in precisely this format.

Y. Zhurakovsky explained that while drafting the treaty, he sought to draw upon mechanisms of international law that existed even before World War II and to assess how they might function in contemporary conditions.

Concluding the ceremony, the organizers encouraged students not to stop at the competition entry, but to continue writing, speaking, participating in professional initiatives, and using such opportunities for further development in the legal profession.