What draft laws for the protection of war victims should be adopted during the new session of the Verkhovna Rada – road map

Representatives of the Coalition of organizations that engage in issues of protecting the rights of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine have prepared a road map of draft laws for the 12th Session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which began its work on September 3, 2024. This map shows draft laws that deputies should pass now to protect war-affected Ukrainians as well as those that should not be passed without revisions or should not be passed at all in order not to harm the victims of armed aggression even more.

Consequences of the Russian shelling of Kurakhovo in Donetsk region, March 3, 2024. Illustrative image. Donbas society

Thus, in the third year of the great war, the issue of reintegration of the de-occupied territories of Ukraine and the population, restoration of state power in these territories, proper compensation to the victims, etc., has not yet been resolved.

“The lack of coordination among people’s deputies of Ukraine, the lack of a systematic approach to solving urgent problems leads to the registration of a significant number of draft laws that propose different changes to the same law or even to the same article of the same law, do not take into account previously adopted laws, as well as the existence of certain legal mechanisms at the sub-legal level,” human rights defenders note.

In particular, representatives of human rights organizations call for the adoption of draft law No. 10256, which proposes to create a Register of people affected by the war. Such a register will have centralized information on the expenses of the state and the public sector of the economy, which will compensate the victims, provide them with social support, as well as accounting for damage to life and health.

Another important document that should also be adopted is draft law No. 11122, which will help protect the rights of Ukrainians whose freedom has been restricted by Russia. This project regulates the payment of EUV (single insurance contribution) for illegally detained people. The EUV will be paid from the state budget in an amount not less than the minimum insurance contribution for each person. The National Social Service of Ukraine should become the insurer for such people.

Also in the road map, there is one “red” draft law that should be rejected – No. 10355, which proposes changes to the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine and the list of laws in the context of pension payments to those convicted of crimes against the foundations of national security, public security, peace, and the safety of humanity, international legal order. The payment of a pension to these people while serving the sentence will be minimal. Human rights defenders comment that such restrictions will also apply to people who are suspected or accused of committing crimes:

“This draft law violates the fundamental principles of the Constitution of Ukraine. And in the case of its adoption, there is a high probability of challenging decisions in accordance with this draft law, in particular at the European Court of Human Rights.“

The road map also contains draft laws that should be finalized before adoption – there are five such draft laws. You can read the full document from human rights defenders here.

At the beginning of this year, in February, human rights defenders already prepared a similar list of draft laws that partially duplicate the legislative initiatives that are in the current map.