Draft bill #8329 of January 2, 2023 

Cosponsors: a group of 16 MPs from the factions Servant of the People and Holos with Halyna Mykhailiuk as the first signatory 

Status: adopted in full 

Who is affected: victims of violence, National Police, and local courts 

Summary: 

  • the bill introduces administrative liability for: 
    • domestic violence. Penalties range from a fine of 340 to 680 UAH, 30-40 hours of community service, and administrative arrest for up to ten days 
    • domestic violence against a minor or underage person. Penalties range from a fine of 510 to 1020 UAH, 40-50 hours of community service, and administrative arrest for a period of two to ten days 
    • physical, economic, or psychological gender-based violence. Penalties range from a fine of 1700 to 3400 UAH, 20-40 hours of community service, and corrective labor for up to one month with a 20% wage deduction 
    • sexual harassment, i.e., verbal, non-verbal, or physical acts of a sexual nature done without consent, which didn’t cause bodily harm but aimed at or resulted in the humiliation of a person’s dignity. Penalties range from a fine of 1360 to 2720 UAH, 20-40 hours of community service, and corrective labor for up to one month with a 20% wage deduction 
    • failure to notify the National Police of a temporary residence by a person who received an emergency protective order to immediately leave the shared residence with the victim. The penalty is a fine of 170-340 UAH 
  • such cases will be reviewed by local courts, protocols on violations will be drafted by the National Police 
  • individuals who committed domestic violence, gender-based violence, or failed to comply with an emergency protective order can be detained for up to three hours for protocol drafting. For identity verification or investigation of the circumstances of the violation, the detention can be extended to 12 hours 
  • for such cases, a court ruling should include justification on whether it is advisable to refer the offender to a program for those who committed domestic violence or gender-based violence 
  • courts cannot release individuals from administrative liability for minor offenses if they committed domestic violence, gender-based violence, failed to comply with an emergency protective order, or failed to notify about their temporary residence 
  • administrative penalties in cases of domestic violence, gender-based violence, failure to comply with an emergency protective order, or failure to notify about temporary residence can be imposed within six months after the violation was committed 
  • the law will come into effect six months after its publication. 

What is right: the bill updates the Code of Administrative Offenses to make it compliant with the Istanbul Convention. 

What is wrong:  

  • introduction of administrative liability for sexual harassment contradicts the Criminal Code. The Criminal Code already envisages criminal liability for sexual violence and coercion to sexual intercourse. Adopting this draft bill may lead to offenders avoiding punishment 
  • the proposed fines for such violations are unjustifiably low 
  • articles of the Istanbul Convention which consider acts of sexual violence within the concept of “domestic violence” are not included 
  • the bill does not include the norm from the Istanbul Convention about “violence against women” (as different from “gender-based violence”) 
  • the penalty for the failure to notify about a temporary residence after receiving an emergency protective order is not justified, as neither the Law on Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence nor bylaws establish specific deadlines for such notification 
  • the concept of “sexual harassment” in the Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men does not conform to the Istanbul Convention, as it does not specify that the aim or consequence of any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal, or physical behavior of a sexual nature is the violation of a person’s dignity. 

Alternative solution: all technical and legal errors in the bill should be corrected. 

Background information: Ukraine ratified The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) on June 20, 2022. 

Additional information:  

Ok, So What? podcast, ep.156: Neighbors will report domestic violence