We would like to offer you a selection of key changes in legislation related to the activities of civil society organizations. In the September issue for the second half of the month, the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research has collected the main topics worth knowing about:
- The President signed the Law on the possibility of importing vehicles for CSOs as humanitarian aid
- The draft law on updating the second book of the Civil Code was registered
- A large-scale process of bilateral screening of legislation with the EU was completed
- Read more about these changes and find out how they will affect the work of CSOs
Regulatory Acts Adopted
President Signs Law on Humanitarian Vehicles for CSOs
What the document is about: The law grants verified civic and charitable humanitarian organizations the right to import cars for statutory humanitarian activities. The procedure for granting the status of a verified humanitarian organization is to be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The law also prohibits the use of such vehicles for commercial purposes. They can only be used for humanitarian response and assistance to war victims.
The respective innovations will come into force three months after the day following the promulgation of the Law. The next step in the implementation of the innovations is the development and approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of the procedure for the formation, maintenance, and access to the information of the list of verified humanitarian organizations. It is also envisaged to bring the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries and other central executive bodies in line with the requirements of the law.
Why it is important: From now on, verified public and charitable organizations will be able to import vehicles for their statutory humanitarian activities as humanitarian aid. This will greatly simplify and increase the efficiency of their work, as well as make the provision of assistance to the population faster and more effective. UCIPR team joined the work on the text of the Law and advocated for its preparation and adoption. Experts participated in numerous working groups and meetings, and prepared an infographic to familiarize with the main innovations of the law.
Registered legal acts
The Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft law on updating the second book of the Civil Code
What the draft law is about: According to the authors of the draft law, its purpose is to systematically update the institute of personal non-property rights, create a modern and effective system of legal protection of intangible assets of individuals and legal entities, as well as harmonize Ukrainian civil legislation with European human rights standards. Changes in the approach to refuting false information about a person directly affect civil society. In particular:
- introduces a definition of false information - information that is untrue and/or misleading. At the same time, information that violates the presumption of innocence, i.e., disseminated before the court's guilty verdict enters into force, is also unreliable;
- refutation of unreliable information is carried out regardless of the fault of the person who disseminated the information;
- claims for non-pecuniary damage may also be made for dissemination of value judgments if they are expressed in a form that degrades dignity, honor, or reputation.
Why it is important: A number of representatives of civil society and the media community criticized the draft law. According to them, the document contains excessively stringent requirements for the media, expands the possibility of “prior censorship,” increases legal liability for critical publications, and may jeopardize the very existence of investigative journalism.
Such provisions potentially create risks of different interpretations of legal norms and subsequent litigation, especially in cases of public importance. This may lead to a decrease in civic activity, primarily related to investigative activities, due to the fear of a lawsuit or a claim for non-pecuniary damage. The UCIPR team will monitor the further progress of the draft law and inform the public about possible changes.
A draft law on updating Book I of the Civil Code has been registered
What the document is about: The draft law No. 14056 in the part related to CSOs proposes to revise the approach to defining the rights of the child. Thus, the list of rights of a minor child has been expanded to include the right to participate in children's public organizations, and a minor child has the right to be a member of a public organization.
Why this is important: The right of a child to participate in a non-governmental organization is currently enshrined in separate legislative acts, and enshrining this right in the Civil Code will help avoid possible legal conflicts and encourage young people to join civil society and civic activism. At the same time, the draft law contains a number of provisions related to the functioning of legal entities that require additional discussions with the public and the expert community.
Other news important for CSOs
Civil Society Week 2025 has ended in Ukraine
Civil Society Week traditionally begins on the International Day of Democracy and is held as part of the implementation of the National Strategy for Civil Society Development.
As part of the Week, state authorities, local governments and military administrations hold a number of events related to civil society. One of these events was the presentation of the results of the fourth competition of successful stories of cross-sectoral partnership “Civil Society, Business and Government - Best Practices of Cooperation”.
The UCIPR team also participated in the events within the framework of the Civil Society Week - UCIPR expert held a seminar on the rules of importation and temporary state registration of cars received as humanitarian aid.
Ukraine has completed the bilateral screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law
The state has fulfilled all the conditions for the start of negotiations on Cluster 1, “Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process,” as confirmed by the European Commission, the European Parliament and 26 EU countries. The final decision of all 27 members is now expected.
The process of implementing the reform, the implementation of the Roadmap for Transformation, and the preparation of the National Program for the Adaptation of Legislation to EU Law are also ongoing.
Earlier, on September 24, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine held a meeting to discuss progress and coordinate joint efforts in implementing the Rule of Law Roadmap. The Ministry analyzed the progress of government agencies in implementing the Rule of Law Roadmap activities with a deadline of 2025. Progress in the implementation of the measures was noted in each of the four sections.
According to the Minister of Justice, the Rule of Law Roadmap has become a strategic plan that combines a number of important reforms. Therefore, its timely and high-quality implementation requires well-coordinated coordination between agencies, active interaction with civil society and effective monitoring.
It should be noted that representatives of civil society were also involved in the development of the Roadmap. In particular, UCIPR experts provided their recommendations in the part concerning the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.
The Cabinet of Ministers has published an interim report on the status of implementation of the action plan for the National Strategy for Civil Society Development
The information is published in a “traffic light” format, indicating the measures that have been implemented on time, those that are delayed, and those that are not being implemented or have problematic issues in implementation.
This year's action plan includes 34 tasks and 90 measures. According to the government, 66 measures have been fully implemented, 23 have not yet been completed, and only one measure is not being implemented.
Thus, the following measures were implemented within the timeframe established by the Strategy and in full:
- promoting the involvement of residents in solving local issues, developing forms of local democracy,
- promoting the introduction of additional mechanisms, including tax incentives, to support CSIs;
- promoting the development of volunteer activities;
- improving legislation on humanitarian aid;
- creating conditions for CSIs to participate in the provision of socially important services at the expense of the budget, etc.
The UCIPR team is regularly involved in the development of action plans for the implementation of the National Strategy, participates in working groups and coordination meetings on the implementation of the National Strategy and monitors the status of implementation of the Action Plans.
The digest is produced by NGO “Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research” with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine - a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of UCIPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.
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