Protection of Human Rights by the Notariat under Martial Law: Digital Resilience, Legal Certainty and Directions for Reform

Abstract

This article examines the notariat as an institution of preventive human-rights protection under martial law in Ukraine, focusing on its growing dependence on digital public infrastructure. Using doctrinal legal analysis, analysis of legislation in force and conceptual synthesis of scholarship on wartime notarial practice and digitalisation, the study identifies four dimensions of institutional resilience: continuity of access to State registers, territorial accessibility of services, integrity and security of notarial data, and the legally controlled transition to the Unified State Electronic E-Notariat System. The regulatory analysis was updated through 14 August 2026. The article shows that wartime regulation has preserved important functions relating to property, inheritance, family and other civil rights, while access restrictions, territorial displacement, cyber risks and dependence on electronic registers can also obstruct the exercise of those rights. Particular attention is paid to extraterritoriality, services for displaced persons and citizens abroad, the protection and backup of notarial records, and the staged legal architecture of e-notariat. The article argues that e-notariat should not be equated with unrestricted remote notarisation: digital procedures require an explicit legal basis, reliable identification, preservation of notarial secrecy, access control, auditability and effective fallback mechanisms. A governance matrix is proposed using four criteria: legal continuity, accessibility, data resilience and procedural safeguards. The study concludes that resilient digital infrastructure is now part of the substantive capacity of the notariat to protect human rights and maintain legal certainty under prolonged emergency conditions.