THE EVOLUTION OF THE PHENOMENON OF RESTITUTION IN LEGAL DOCTRINE AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PRACTICE

Abstract

This scholarly article examines the development of the concept of restitution through the lens of its evolution, with a focus on legal doctrine and international legal practice. The study examines the historical stages of the development of the concept of restitutio in integrum in Roman law, the characteristics of its subsequent development in international legal thought, and its transformation into one of the key mechanisms for restoring violated rights within the system of international legal responsibility of subjects of international law. The study analyzed doctrinal approaches to defining the conceptual framework in relation to other forms such as reparation, compensation, satisfaction, and substitution. The study focuses on the evolutionary stages of the concept’s development under the influence of the practice of international judicial institutions, in particular the decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Attention is given to the processes of codification of international legal responsibility within the framework of the United Nations International Law Commission. The study identifies the specific features of applying restitution to the return of unlawfully seized property, cultural property, and living heritage, and analyzes contemporary challenges in distinguishing between various forms of international legal redress. The study’s findings indicate that the concept of restitution has evolved through a complex yet flexible developmental path, from an institution of Roman private law to a universal mechanism for restoring a violated legal status in contemporary international law. It is argued that, under contemporary conditions, restitution remains a priority form with a dynamic nature of development, which, by its very nature, is capable of acting preventively.