VR Legal Department: Draft law to ban the UOC contradicts the Constitution

The Verkhovna Rada. Photo: kyiv-city.com

The Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada stated that the bill “On Ensuring the Strengthening of National Security in the Sphere of Freedom of Conscience and the Activities of Religious Organizations”, introduced on December 9, 2022 by the Humanitarian Policy Committee, which actually bans the UOC, is contrary to the Constitution and increases tensions in society, reports telegram channel ZeRada1.

This bill proposes to allow only those churches that will become subordinate to the OCU to be called "Orthodox".

Referring to the Constitution, the Legal Department of the Rada noted that "Ukraine is a secular state, which excludes the possibility of establishing any advantages for certain religious organizations at the legislative level."

“The proposed monopoly of a religious organization on the term ‘Orthodox’ is insufficiently balanced and contains signs of a violation of Art. 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, including the rights of members of other religious organizations,” say the Expert Opinions of the Main Legal Department.

Another claim is the concept of "foreign religious organizations", which is included in the bill, but is not explained there.

The lawyers of the Rada added that the ban on religious organizations that “declare” their connection with the Russian Orthodox Church in any form is an indefinite reason (that is, no specific forms of such a declaration are listed – Ed.), which gives reason to close religious communities at the discretion of the authorities.

“In our opinion, now such a proposal of the bill may cause a significant religious tension in society among believers, because as of 01.01.2021, the number of religious organizations of the UOC, which the draft law can refer to, is 12 406, which is almost 62% of the total number of 19 860 Orthodox religious organizations in Ukraine. Deliberations in society have been going on for a long time around the issue proposed in the draft law. On February 24, 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Activation of discussion initiatives in such a difficult period weakens the required consolidation of society," the department concluded.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the Humanitarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada recommended the adoption of a law banning the UOC.

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