Today, law on indigenous peoples comes into force in Ukraine

The Law "On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" came into force in Ukraine today, July 23.

The document was published in the newspaper "Voice of Ukraine."

The purpose of the law is to determine the legal status of indigenous peoples of Ukraine and establish legal guarantees for full possession of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons belonging to indigenous peoples of Ukraine, which are established by international law provided by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Thus, according to the law, the concept of "indigenous people of Ukraine" is defined as "indigenous ethnic community formed on the territory of Ukraine, is a carrier of original language and culture, has traditional, social, cultural or representative bodies,  self-aware of being indigenous people of Ukraine, is ethnic a minority in its population and has no state of its own outside Ukraine."

According to this definition, the law proposes to establish that the indigenous peoples of Ukraine are the Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks.

Per the provisions of the legislation, the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and their representatives have the right, collectively and individually, to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms as defined in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in international agreements, the binding nature of which has been approved by the Verkhovna Rada, as well as provided for in the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

The law also defines guarantees for legal protection from any actions aimed at the deprivation of signs of ethnicity and integrity as original peoples, deprivation of cultural values; eviction or forcible transfer from places of compact residence in any form; forced assimilation or forced integration in any form; encouraging or inciting racial, ethnic or religious hatred against the indigenous peoples of Ukraine.

The adopted document guarantees the cultural, educational, linguistic, and information rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine to sustainable development.

The law provides for determining the legal status of the representative bodies of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, their resource provision, and the issue of international representation.

The law enters into force on the day of its publication, but part 3 of Article 7, which defines the right of indigenous peoples to direct part of the income from the use of natural resources to the needs of indigenous peoples of Ukraine, comes into force after returning the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. 

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed the law on indigenous peoples on July 21.