On accession to the Second Protocol to The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
In April 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law on Ukraine’s accession to the Second Protocol to The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in late 2019 and submitted to the Parliament by the President of Ukraine.
On adjusting the norms of national legislation to the norms of international criminal law and international humanitarian law
The Parliament adopted as a basis the Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law.
The draft law amends Article 8 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to introduce the principle of universal jurisdiction over crimes of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The draft law proposes a tool that will allow for proper legal qualification of crimes committed during the armed conflict.
On joining the Safe Schools Declaration
On October 28, 2019, in Mariupol, a draft Presidential Decree authorizing the Minister of Education and Science to sign the Safe Schools Declaration was adopted at an offsite meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In November 2019, Ukraine joined the Safe Schools Declaration.
On the search for missing persons
On July 12, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Missing Persons” (hereinafter – the Law), which entered into force on August 2, 2018.
The Law defines the legal status of missing persons and provides legal regulation of issues related to the identification, registration, search and social protection of missing persons and their relatives. The purpose of the Law is to implement international treaties on international humanitarian law and international human rights law on the protection of missing persons and their relatives to which Ukraine is a party.
In order to implement the provisions of the Law, the following work was carried out:
- the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Procedure for the formation and operation of search groups by Resolution No. 802 of August 21, 2019;
- the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the composition of the Commission on Persons Missing in Special Circumstances by Resolution No. 248-r of April 10, 2019;
- Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 726 of August 14, 2019 approved the Procedure for Maintaining the Unified Register of Persons Missing in Special Circumstances.