Position of Ministry of Defence on draft laws that sparked public concern

The Ministry of Defence held consultations with the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement and the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defence, and Intelligence regarding draft laws that sparked public concern.

The Ministry and parliamentarians reached an agreement to provide full support for the draft law ‘On the Military Ombudsman,’ submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by the President of Ukraine. 

The draft law stipulates that the Office of the Military Ombudsman shall function as an auxiliary body under the President of Ukraine, and that the Military Ombudsman shall be a civilian official who will have the trust of defenders and their families and will be tasked with protecting the rights of:

• Service members of all branches and components of the Defence Forces of Ukraine;
• Police officers engaged in combat operations;
• Foreign nationals and stateless persons serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• Other categories of individuals as stipulated by law.

The Ministry of Defence is convinced that establishing a Military Ombudsman, a new institution for Ukraine, is a necessary component of the justice system for military personnel.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine endorses the position of the Verkhovna Rada Committees on Law Enforcement and on National Security, Defence, and Intelligence concerning the necessity of excluding from draft law No. 13452 the clauses that strengthen military accountability for disobedience.

The amendments proposed in the draft law would prevent courts from considering the circumstances of each case and from imposing a more lenient sentence, effectively reducing the trial to a formal procedure without regard for individual factors.

The Ministry of Defence is of the view that draft law No. 13452 requires further refinement in coordination with the pertinent Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Discipline in the military should be grounded in justice rather than punishment. The Ministry has consistently maintained that service members currently defending our country should have the ability to safeguard their rights.