UKRAINE: National Laws

Summary: General overview of Ukraine's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.

National laws on children's rights

Status of CRC in national law
The status of the CRC in Ukranian law is somewhat unclear, although the Convention is given some level of effect in political and judicial decision-making. The Constitution (Article 92.6) lists the “family, the protection of childhood, motherhood and fatherhood; upbringing, education, culture and healthcare” among areas that are exclusively reserved for and determined by national law. The Constitution (Article 9) also provides, however, that international treaties agreed to be binding by the legislative Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada) are part of national law. As a ratified international instrument, the CRC can therefore be taken into account by the relevant authorities, including the courts.

Constitution- the Constitution of Ukraine includes a number of provisions that directly address the rights of children or the rights of parents in relation to children: 

• Art. 24 is directed towards the equality of constitutional rights and freedoms, but makes particular reference to the provision of “material and moral support of motherhood and childhood” with a specific clause regarding the provision of paid leave and other privileges to pregnant women and mothers;

• Art. 51 obliges parents to support their children until they reach the age of majority (18 years old) and, in turn, for adult children to care for parents who are incapable of work; and

• Art. 52 provides that children “are equal in their rights regardless of their origin and whether they are born in or out of wedlock”. The article also provides that violence against or exploitation of a child shall be prosecuted by law and that the maintenance and upbringing of orphans and children deprived of parental care is entrusted to the state.

Legislation- Ukraine does not have a consolidated Children's Act, but rather legislation pertinent to the implementation of the CRC is found throughout Ukrainian law. The administration of juvenile justice is regulated by the Ukrainian Code of Criminal Procedure while criminal offences, including those commit by and against children, fall within the ambit of the Criminal Code. Other legislation related to the subject matter of the CRC includes, but is by no means limited to:

• the Child Welfare Act (No. 2404-III, 7 Jun. 2001)

• the Family Code (10 Jan. 2002)

• the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (No. 2789-III, 15 Nov. 2001)- including the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, institutions for children and the home

• the Education Act 20/12/91

• the Pre-School Education Act (11 Jun. 2001)

• the Social Work with Children and Youth Act (No. 2558-III, 21 Jun. 2001)

• the State Social Assistance for Persons Disabled from Childhood and Children with Disabilities Act (No. 2109-III, 16 Nov. 2000)

• the Act Amending the State Assistance for Families with Children Act (1 Jan. 2002)

Legal Research:
The Ukranian Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada) maintains a website in Ukranian, Russian and English (http://portal.rada.gov.ua/rada/control/uk/index). The site offers an English translation of the Constitution of Ukraine (http://www.rada.gov.ua/const/conengl.htm#r15) and English summaries of Ukranian legislation (http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?user=annot) which are available in full in Ukrainian (http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?user=e). The Family Code is also available in English from the Ukranian Minister of Foreign Affairs (http://www.mfa.gov.ua/data/upload/publication/usa/en/7148/family_kideks_engl.pdf). Comprehensive legal research guides are available from the Institute of International Law of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University /Legal Library of the Ukranian Legal Foundation (http://www.llrx.com/features/ukraine.htm) and a former law student at the University of California from Ukraine (http://www.boalt.org/bjil/docs/UkraineResearchGuide.doc). The U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/ukraine.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/ua/) also offer portals with links to many legal research and government websites.

Case law
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Case Law Research
The Constitutional Court offers full versions of its decisions in Ukranian and summaries in English (http://www.ccu.gov.ua/en/index), while the Supreme Court maintains a website with resources available in Ukranian (http://www.scourt.gov.ua/).

Compliance with the CRC
Though the Committee was in some ways complementary about Ukrainian progress towards the principles and values within the Convention, in particular welcoming the 1996 Constitution and its commitment to rights and freedoms, in many respects the 2002 report was quite critical of the state of Ukrainian law with respect to compatibility with the CRC. Significantly, the Committee expressed concern that “legislation on the Convention has been considered to be of a declaratory nature and thus has not been fully implemented”. 

In depth analysis:
Ongoing discrimination was also identified as a failing with regards to Ukraine's project to harmonise the CRC with national law, despite having been highlighted in the country's initial report to the Committee in 1995. In particular, the Committee recommended that the minimum legal age of marriage for women be raised to 18 to bring it into line with that for men. The Concluding Observations of the 2002 report also questioned whether the principle of non-discrimination within the CRC had been fully applied to those from more economically disadvantaged households, children living in rural areas, children in institutions, children with disabilities, Roma children and children with HIV/AIDS. With regards to torture, the Committee questioned whether the Criminal Code of 2001 was compatible with article 37 of the CRC, insofar as it did not include psychological torture committed by State officials within its definition of torture.

The concluding observations on the report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography of 2007 welcomed the inclusion of provisions on the trafficking of children and the forced involvement of children in prostitution and pornographic materials, but noted that the Criminal Code was still not in conformity with articles 2 and 3 of the Optional Protocol.

With respect to the administration of youth justice, while the adoption of the 1995 Act on juvenile affairs agencies and services on special juvenile institutions was welcomed, the Committee noted with concern the absence of specialised juvenile courts and judges, as well as the limited number of legal professionals, social workers and community educators working within the field. The Committee also raised the issue of “severe penalties imposed on minors” under the Criminal Code 2001. Furthermore, The latest CRC report also noted the absence of any explicit age of consent for sexual contact, and recommended that such concept be made a clear part of the law.

Current legal reform projects
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.