On July 30, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada registered bill No. 5835 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Activities of Religious Organizations and Ensuring the Constitutional Right of Citizens to Freedom of Worldview and Religion.” This was reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

It is emphasized that these laws, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation, grossly violate the Constitution of Ukraine and the constitutional rights of citizens.

Draft Law No. 5835, by amending the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”, the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individuals – Entrepreneurs and Public Organizations”, proposes to ensure the constitutional right of citizens to freely conduct religious activities, including and the right to freedom of opinion and religion in general.

Commenting on this legislative initiative, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, Chairman of the Legal Department of the UOC, noted: “This means that this law is intended to restore the principle of equality of all religious communities, to protect religious organizations from interference in their internal affairs, and to restore the rights of believers and religious communities of the UOC and return the legislation that was in force before 2018. After all, we know that laws No. 2662, 2673 were adopted in order to provide preferences for the newly created OCU. “