Bill No. 13597 on combating discrimination remains in the Verkhovna Rada committee
Bill No. 13597, aimed at updating Ukrainian legislation on combating discrimination and crimes motivated by intolerance, remains under review by a Verkhovna Rada committee nearly a year after its registration. The bill was registered in August 2025, according to “European Truth.”
The bill has already been included on the parliament’s agenda and designated as a European integration bill. In its conclusion, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU noted that the document does not contradict Ukraine’s international legal obligations in the field of European integration and is aimed at fulfilling the objectives of the roadmap on the rule of law.
The bill aims to distinguish between less serious acts of discrimination and attacks, threats, and incitement to violence, providing separate response mechanisms for each level. It represents a new attempt to update the legislation following Bill No. 5488, which was never adopted.
As the publication notes, the motive of intolerance is not always investigated in Ukraine. As a result, attacks on people based on their actual or presumed membership in a particular group may be classified as hooliganism, bodily injury, or other general offenses.
In a report as part of the 2025 EU Enlargement Package, the European Commission noted that Ukrainian legislation does not comply with EU Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms of racism and xenophobia through criminal law, particularly regarding the definitions and scope of such crimes. The European Commission also noted that Ukraine lacks a systematic data collection system for hate crimes, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are not covered by criminal law in this context.
According to international organizations, Ukraine has been slipping in the Rule of Law Index for the third consecutive year under the criterion of “Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination”: from 30th place in 2022 to 43rd in 2025 among 143 countries.
