Legal education in Ukraine during the war: From resilience to modernisation

Abstract

Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has transformed the legal education system, creating unprecedented challenges for universities, teachers, and students. The aim of the study is to identify the key challenges posed by the war for legal education in Ukraine, analyse the forms of its adaptation, and outline the prospects for further transformation in the post-war period. The methodology is based on a combination of historical legal, formal-legal, comparative-legal analysis, case studies, statistical analysis, and sociological surveys. The results showed that Ukrainian legal education remained stable thanks to a combination of several factors: the external nature of the aggression, the digital readiness of universities, an extensive network of institutions, international support, regulatory flexibility, and the voluntary nature of the mobilisation of academia. At the same time, a number of problems were identified, such as unequal access to education depending on location and financial capabilities, psychological exhaustion of participants in the educational process, a lack of practical training, and dependence on digital formats. The article emphasises that the war has become not only a challenge but also an impetus for the modernisation of legal education. In this regard, further development should be based on digital transformation, integration into the European educational space, the development of inclusive infrastructure, and psychological support. Investment in human capital and the creation of a unified legislative framework for legal education will determine the success of its post war recovery and compliance with international standards.