New laws – January 2014: exemption from criminal responsibility for certain crimes
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Friday, 17 January 2014 23:20
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During 14-16 January 2014 , a number of laws were adopted for
"the establishment in Ukraine of the rights and freedoms of citizens, protection of persons and society from criminal attacks"
(as stated in the explanatory note to the draft of one of the laws) .
One of these laws - the Law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On elimination of negative impacts and prevention prosecution and punishment of persons connected to the events that took place during peaceful gatherings" provides for exemption from criminal liability of persons who are suspected or accused in the commission of crimes stipulated in Articles 109, 122, 161, 171, 185, 194, 259, 279, 289, 293, 294, 295, 296, 341, 342, 343 , 345 , 348 , 349, 365 , 376 , 382 , 386 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, between 21 November and 26 December 2013, provided that those offenses related to mass protests that began on November 21, 2013 , and closed the criminal proceedings.
So, for example, for intentional injuries of moderate severity, theft and disorderly conduct, abuse of power and authority, for criminal obstruction of journalistic activities during the recent mass protests no one will be brought to responsibility.
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The Law of Ukraine “On Public Associations”
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Sunday, 22 April 2012 00:18
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The Law of Ukraine “On Public Associations” came into force on April 19, 2012.
This law
will start its operation from
January 1, 2013
.
Action of the Law of Ukraine
"On
Public
Associations
» (№
2460
-XII) from 1992 will be
repealed on the same
day.
The new Law
regulates
relations in the sphere of formation, registration, operation and termination of the public associations in Ukraine.
In general, the needs for this law were determined by the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe set in paragraph 7.5.1 of the Resolution number 1755 (2010).
The new
law provides some
innovations
in the field
of
public associations functioning.
For example, the Law
regulates
in detail
the procedure for establishing
public associations,
establishes
requirements for
protocol
of
constituent assembly.
In accordance with
Article
7 of
the Law only
two people may be founders
of
public
associations, comparing to three according to the former legaslation.
This Law
includes the
provision
which allows
legal entities
of private law
to be
founders
of
public
associations.
The law establishes
a
more
complete list of
information that
should
be included in the
statute of public association.
In accordance with
the Law, public associations
with legal status
have a
right
t
o business activity
, if such
activity
meets the goal
(
purposes)
of public
associations and
facilitate to its achievement.
The Parliament
established
an exhaustive list of
grounds
for refusal
to register public association.
However,
new Law
also
contains some
provisions which may
be interpreted
ambiguously
or
need
revisions in the future.
The issue of financial assistance for public associations is not properly regulated in the Law. Back in 2007, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14 pointed on the need for clear and objective criteria for the provision of any governmental assistance and support for non-governmental organizations. Thus, Article 23 of the Law provides for the financial support of associations with legal status from the State Budget of Ukraine and local budgets in accordance with law. However, the law does not set the order and conditions of receiving of such financial assistance.
According to paragraph 4 of the Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14 of the Council of Europe, non-governmental organizations may have an international status. Instead of this, in accordance with the new Law, all national and international public associations which had been registered before this Law entrance into force shall be deemed to public associations that have confirmed their national status. Such provision indicates that the international public associations that are created in the Ukraine and spread their activities in other countries, will not remain their international status anymore.
But, nevertheless, we
can talk about
improving of the
legal
regulation of
the establishment and functioning
of
public associations
in Ukraine,
which is a positive
step towards the
development of civil society
in our country.
Prepared by M.Bulgakova, A.Petriv
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Legal review of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the State System of Biosafety During Creating, Testing, Transporting, and Using Genetically Modified Organisms”
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Tuesday, 20 March 2012 00:12
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On the 15
th
of March 2012
President of Ukraine
signed
the Law of Ukraine “
On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the State System of Biosafety During Creating, Testing, Transporting, and Using Genetically Modified Organisms”
This
law
was
adopted
in order to
adapt
Ukrainian legislation to European
Union regulations, namely
the
Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 of the European parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003
concerning the traceability and labeling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of
food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms and amending Directive
2001/18/EC
.
Before that, there was a gap in the
Ukrainian legislation
in the sphere of traceability of products
containing
GMOs.
Article
15
of the Law
stipulates that
entities
should fill out
declaration in written form when they
introduce some products containing GMOs for the first time
. The declaration should contain information about the entity,
product containing GMO or consisting of GMOs,
a number of such products in the State Register of GMOs.
It is worth to notice that the provisions of Article 15 of the Law may be problematic during their implementation.
Article
4 of
Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003
determines
that
at the first stage of the placing on the market of a product consisting of or containing GMOs operators shall ensure that the following information is transmitted in writing to the operator receiving the product: that it contains or consists of GMOs; the unique identifier(s) assigned to those GMOs.
At all subsequent stages of the placing on the market of products, operators shall ensure that such information is transmitted in writing to the operators receiving the products.
So, the formulation of the Article 15 of the Law is unclear
. It is not defined whether the declaration should be filled out by each entity after they introduce some products containing GMOs for the first time? Or whether the declaration should be filled out only by the entity that introduces this product for the first time into the Ukrainian market?
Prepared by Andriy Petriv
Member of Council of EACLA
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Legal review of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On landscapes"
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Tuesday, 28 February 2012 22:49
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On the 23
rd
of February 2012
the Parliament of Ukraine
passed the
Law
of Ukraine
“On landscapes
”.
According to
the preamble
, the law
is aimed
at
protection, management
and planning
of
landscapes for their
conservation and
sustainable use
to ensure environmental,
cultural,
recreational
, economic & other
needs of society.
This Law determines
the purpose
, principles
and objectives
of state regulation
of landscapes;
bodies, responsible for
such regulation
&
some
powers of the
bodies.
We
have to
point out
some disadvantages of the law that do not facilitate its effective
implementation and do
not contribute to
fulfillment of
the main
purpose
of the law.
In September 2005 Ukraine ratified the European Landscape Convention. Ukraine undertakes to recognize landscapes in law as an essential component of people’s surroundings, an expression of the diversity of their shared cultural and natural heritage, and a foundation of their identity; to establish and implement landscape policies; to establish procedures for the participation of the general public, local and regional authorities, and other parties; to integrate landscape into its regional and town planning policies and in its cultural, environmental, agricultural, social and economic policies, as well as in any other policies with possible direct or indirect impact on landscape.
Article 6 of the Convention provides specific measures to be implemented by the parties on national level.
Article
21 of the Law
stipulates that
state control
on implementing
of
legislation on landscapes protection
and management
should be carried according the
law.
Instead of this, the
Law
does not prescribe an
order of
such control
.
Another problem
is related to the
liability for failure to implement
standards
established
by the state, as responsibility issues are not envisaged by the law.
In accordance
with “
Final Provisions”, the
Law
comes into
force on the next day
after its publication. But it is sated that mechanisms for
the implementation of the
Law
should be developed
by the government
within 1
year from the
date of
enactment of
the law. Thus, the
effective
implementation
of the Law
is
dependent on
the government's action
on
the adoption of regulations, and not all provisions can be implemented straight after the publication of the law
.
Article
21 of the Law
determines public rights in the sphere of
landscapes protection, management
and planning.
Article 5 of the Convention is related to the necessity to establish procedures for public participation on national levels.
This provision
obviously
obliges
the state
to
make an effort
to
develop
procedures
for public participation
in the formation
,
development and
implementation
of landscape
plans.
These procedures are not regulated by this law.
Prepared by Andriy Petriv
Member of Council of EACLA
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