VR Speaker calls moral foundations of society "sovok"

Ruslan Stefanchuk. Photo: rada.gov.ua

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in a comment under a post by the head of the "All Together!" movement Ruslan Kukharchuk stated that "the moral foundations of society, as well as the Communist Builder’s Code, are 'sovok' (a pejorative term for the Soviet system - Trans.)".

The discussion began around bills No. 14056 and No. 14057 "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine in Connection with the Update (Recodification)", voted in the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading.

Ruslan Kukharchuk published a critique of the amendments to the Civil Code, warning of "extremely radical and dangerous changes". In particular, he pointed out the intention to "abolish the current principle of lawmaking - 'not to contradict the moral foundations of society', replacing it with 'to comply with decency'." According to Kukharchuk, these bills "undermine natural human rights, destroy the institution of the family, public morality, and national values."

Under this post, Ruslan Stefanchuk left a comment: "The moral foundations of society, as well as the Communist Builder’s Code, are 'sovok'. Personal rights, and non-property rights in particular, are one of their characteristics, not their essence." This statement sparked a wave of outrage.

In response, Kukharchuk reminded the Speaker of fundamental international legal documents - the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. According to him, these documents contain concepts such as "morality", "ethics", "interests of morality", "protection of morality", "preservation of morality".

Lawyer Oleksandr Khrapach, who prepared an extensive analysis of the threats posed by the proposed changes to the Civil Codeбjoined the discussion. According to the expert, Stefanchuk's comment "confirmed the goal of the bills – the destruction of such an important legal regulator of behavior in society as 'the moral foundations of society'."

Khrapach warned that the changes could lead to the subsequent abolition of the Family Code of Ukraine with the transfer of provisions on family relations to a separate section of the Civil Code. "This will lead to the depopularization of family values and their leveling to the level of civil-law (acquisitive, contractual - with the aim of access to marriage for same-sex persons)," the expert noted.

Khrapach emphasized that the concepts of "moral foundations of society", "public morality" or "morality of the population" "are not 'sovok', but represent a generally accepted basic legal regulator of public relations." He concluded that in international and national legislation, "the moral foundations of society or public morality are relevant sources of law and have priority in application over personal human rights."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that an openly homosexual person was appointed as Deputy Minister of Culture.

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