HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL REGULATION OF NON-DISCRIMINATION IN UKRAINIAN AND POLISH LEGISLATION (ХХ–ХХІ СENTURIES)

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive comparative legal analysis of the development of anti-discrimination regulation within the legal systems of Ukraine and Poland throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It examines the transformation of the legal understanding of equality, from the formal constitutional recognition of equality before the law in the early twentieth century to the introduction of contemporary concepts of substantive equality and positive action. The study also analyses the specific features of anti-discrimination discourse under totalitarian regimes. Particular attention is paid to the impact of European integration on the formation of national anti-discrimination mechanisms, including the implementation of EU directives and the adaptation of domestic legislation to the standards of the Council of Europe. The conclusion is made about the gradual strengthening of institutional guarantees of equality and the transition to an active policy of overcoming actual inequality in Ukrainian and Polish legislation through the prism of historical changes. It has been argued that the current stage, after the 1990s, is marked by a return to liberal standards, where the principle of non-discrimination has become not just a legal norm, but the foundation of the rule of law. European integration has been a powerful external stimulus, forcing national governments to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination laws and create institutional mechanisms for protection.