Legal Digest of April: a Course Toward Digitalization and European Integration

Now officially: antisemitism is a criminal offense

The President has signed a number of laws, including the criminalization of antisemitism. Although Article 161 of the Criminal Code previously provided for liability for incitement of national, regional, racial, or religious hatred and hostility, which also covers antisemitic statements, the article has now been explicitly supplemented with “manifestations of antisemitism”.

The law defines antisemitism as a certain perception of Jews expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism directed against Jews or non-Jews and/or their property, institutions, or religious sites of the Jewish community fall under the law’s scope.

Thus, the question of whether our Russophobia falls under the definition of antisemitism remains open.

Utility payments for destroyed / damaged property will not be charged

Another signed law exempts citizens from paying housing and communal services in case a building is destroyed. The commission arriving at the site must automatically transfer the acts to the utility provider. If the property is destroyed, utility charges are fully terminated. However, in case of partial damage, a decision of the OSBB general meeting or cooperative board is still required to suspend charges.

From school desks to homeland defense

The Law on Certain Issues of Preparing Citizens of Ukraine for National Resistance (No. 4826-IX) replaces basic military training for students with a new approach — preparation for national resistance, regardless of gender. Training will now cover all levels of education — from secondary to higher education.

In particular, a new academic discipline, “Fundamentals of National Resistance,” will be introduced.

Towards European integration

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted and submitted to the President a number of European integration laws: one concerns energy, the other relates to accreditation of industrial products under EU requirements. These are large-scale comprehensive laws containing more than 200 terms and definitions. More detailed information on the introduced provisions will be available after presidential signing and official publication.

Digitalization of enforcement proceedings

The Law on Digitalization of Enforcement Proceedings has been submitted to the President for signature. It provides for the digitalization of certain stages of enforcement proceedings, as well as optimization of their stages and execution timelines.

To this end, amendments are introduced to the Commercial Procedural Code, the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine, and a number of laws of Ukraine, including “On Road Traffic,” “On Notary,” “On Banks and Banking Activity,” “On Mortgage,” “On the Depository System of Ukraine,” “On State Registration of Property Rights to Immovable Property and Their Encumbrances,” “On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Formations,” “On Enforcement Proceedings,” “On Capital Markets and Organized Commodity Markets,” and “On Compulsory State Social Insurance.”

The idea is to prohibit disposal of assets for all persons included in the Unified Register of Debtors. However, after payment of the fine and enforcement costs, the arrest is automatically lifted without a separate decision, and the person is removed from the Register of Debtors on the next day.

Changed approach to confirming insurance work record

In the absence of a labor book, or if it lacks necessary entries or contains incorrect or inaccurate information about periods of employment, the following may be used to confirm insurance record:

• data contained in the Insured Persons Register of the State Register of Compulsory State Social Insurance;
• available extracts from orders, personal accounts and payroll statements, documents confirming banking transactions for salary accrual (payment), certificates, references, written employment contracts and agreements with execution notes, as well as other documents confirming employment periods;
• other documents issued by workplaces, service, educational institutions, or archival institutions;
• testimonies of at least two witnesses who knew the applicant through joint work, in cases and procedures determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

At present, this procedure has not yet been defined, so further updates are expected.

Blitz news

• The Cabinet of Ministers approved the National Program for Adaptation of Legislation to EU Law (1081 pages);
• From March 1, pensions were indexed by 12.1%;
• The Cabinet approved the Action Plan for implementing the European Child Guarantee in Ukraine until 2030;
• Amendments were made to the Methodology for normative monetary land valuation;
• The Strategy for Public Finance Management Reform for 2026–2030 was approved.

We continue to monitor the latest legislative developments and inform our clients about them.