The rule of law in contemporary Ukraine: widespread elite failure puts reforms at risk

Ukraine's Euromaidan protest movement, which brought about the fall of President Yanukovych in 2014, has led to a comprehensive process of reforms. However, this process is being hampered and delayed by a large number of internal and external hurdles. There are particularly significant obstacles to establishing a state governed by the rule of law. Preserving areas in which a legal vacuum exists is in the interests of influential political and economic actors because such areas contribute to their personal enrichment and help maintain their power. It is therefore important to examine the progress that has been made and the hurdles that have been encountered in establishing the rule of law. Such an analysis can help German and European actors to take well-founded decisions on how to support Ukraine's moves towards rule-of-law structures more effectively than they have in the past. (author's abstract