Ukrainian Parliament will consider several draft laws on religious issues at the next session
12 July 2012
The tenth session of the Parliament of Ukraine is finished without consideration of the draft law № 10447, which is initiated by the Cabinet of Ministers and provides for the elimination of the National Expert Committee on Protection of Public Morality.
It should be noted that before the session officials and leaders of parliamentary factions have received many requests from churches and religious organizations, as well as from citizens, asking them to maintain and ensure the further functioning of the Committee.
However, parliamentarians may return to this issue during the last session before the next elections to the Parliament, which will begin in September. At the same time representatives of the parliamentary majority consider the possibility of conducting the extraordinary session at the end of July or in August.
Parliamentarians also did not consider the draft law № 10221, providing for substantial revisions to the Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations".
The draft law № 2450 on the organization and conduct of peaceful activities, prepared for the reopening of the second reading is also in the agenda of the Parliament.
One might expect that during the next session the elected officials will be able to consider the draft law № 2450 on a moratorium on the privatization of property for religious services. Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has repeatedly stressed the need for such legislative changes to implement Ukraine’s commitments towards the Council of Europe.
In the penultimate day of the session, July 5, the Parliament deferred consideration of the draft law № 10472 and № 10472-1 government project on the registration of personal data, because they have not passed examination in the appropriate committee. It should be noted that the last draft law contains amendments to the processing of personal data of members of religious organizations.
Translation by Svitlana Sydorenko
© 2012 The Institute for Religious Freedom – Kyiv, Ukraine
www.irf.in.ua
