Draft bill #12378 of January 7, 2025

Cosponsors: 9 MPs from the political parties Servant of the People and Holos with Oleksandr Zavitnevych as the first signatory

Status: sent for review to the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence

Who is affected: service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine

Summary:

  • the law will allow sending units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to other countries for:
    • protection of national security
    • repelling armed aggression against Ukraine
    • protection of sovereignty
    • exercising the right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter
  • the decision to deploy units will be made by the President with subsequent approval from the Verkhovna Rada. An exception will be the use of the Armed Forces on the territory of the aggressor state to repel an attack
  • during the state of war (introduced on February 24, 2022), the provisions of this bill will apply to the units of the AFU that before to the adoption of this law were already in other states to ensure national security, protection from aggression, and protection of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

What is right:

  • the bill will create a legal basis for military operations outside of Ukraine
  • the bill expands military cooperation with other states and allows participation in joint operations with partners.

What is wrong:

the bill facilitates a legal collision. The Law on the Procedure for Deploying Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Other States, which will be amended by this bill, is expanded with the clause about repelling the aggression, while the law in question regulates participation in international missions based on treaties (peacekeeping operations, training, etc.). In other words, it will be applied to the situation of repelling armed aggression, which is of a completely different legal nature.

Article 9 of the law allows sending Ukrainian service members to participate in combat operations in another state only voluntarily, and the duration of stay is limited to one year. The adoption of the draft bill may complicate military operations on the territory of the aggressor, as the military will receive a legal reason to refuse participation in such operations.

Alternative solution:

to stipulate that armed aggression can also be repelled on the territory of the aggressor state. It should also be specified that this can be done not only by units of the Armed Forces but also by units of other security and defense forces.

How to help the legislator: proposals concerning the draft bill can be sent to the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence.