ROTATION AS A LEGAL INSTRUMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL REFORM: THE CASE OF UKRAINE’S CUSTOMS SERVICE

Abstract

This article analyses the legal, psychological and institutional dimensions of staff rotation in Ukraine’s customs administration, introduced amid public service reform under martial law. It argues that while rotation is promoted as an anti-corruption and managerial renewal tool, it operates in practice within an ambiguous legal framework that exposes deeper governance and trust deficits. Drawing on comparative administrative law, empirical data and socio-legal scholarship, the study examines how fragmented regulation, weak procedural safeguards and limited ethical leadership shape institutional resilience and staff confidence. The findings show how the effectiveness of rotation depends less on its formal design than on its legal clarity, fairness and ethical implementation. When these elements are lacking, rotation risks eroding rather than strengthening institutional trust. Situating Ukraine’s experience within broader European and global practice, the article concludes that legally codified and ethically grounded mobility frameworks are essential for sustainable public sector reform and institutional integrity in times of crisis.

 Keywords: rotation, institutional trust, customs reform, Ukraine, wartime governance.