Ukraine: Draft Civil Code risks entrenching discrimination and rolling back on human rights
Responding to the adoption of a new draft Civil Code, in the first reading by the Ukrainian parliament, on 28 April 2026, Veronika Velch, Director of Amnesty International Ukraine, said:
“Ukraine’s parliament must not rush through a new Civil Code that is manifestly inconsistent and incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations. Unless it is thoroughly and comprehensively reviewed, following a meaningful consultation with the affected rights-holders and expert civil society organizations, it will embed provisions that will have sweeping and lasting effect on human rights of people living in Ukraine for years to come.”
“The new draft Civil Code has numerous fallacies, from its openly discriminative approach to LGBTI people, to provisions for depriving people with disabilities of their legal capacity, contrary to Article 12 of the CRPD, on such basis as “mental, other disorder,” to the introduction of overly broad terms like ‘dobrozvychainist’ (‘good custom’) which will put the onus on the judiciary to use this concept in making important legal determinations. The proposed draft Civil Code is an encroachment on the human rights of LGBTI people, people with disabilities, women, and ultimately – the rights of everyone.”
