Landmark Decisions

Draft law #12058, co-authored by the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Oleksandra Hrydu, along with MPs Artem Chornomorov and Maryna Nikitina, introduces provisions allowing the cultivation of energy and oil crops on degraded, low-productivity, and technogenically contaminated lands for biofuel production, and potentially for food purposes as well.

Critics argue that the initiative effectively legalizes the continued plowing of lands that should be withdrawn from agricultural use due to exhaustion or environmental hazard. In doing so, it undermines the very concept of land conservation as a process of ecological restoration and return to a natural state. This concern has been emphasized by experts from the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group.

At the same time, the cultivation of oil and energy crops may further intensify soil degradation, contribute to erosion, and require significant amounts of fertilizers and water. The proposed use of contaminated lands—including those affected by war—also raises potential health risks.

The authors of the draft law propose 10-year lease agreements at minimal rates, along with state subsidies to support monoculture expansion of crops such as sunflower, rapeseed, willow, and others.

Overall, the draft law raises concerns about corruption risks and is seen by critics as transforming a nature conservation measure into a mechanism for cheap industrial exploitation of land rather than genuine ecological restoration.

Bill information page on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Draft laws No. 13137 and 13137-1 have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, proposing a radical overhaul of the rules governing disciplinary liability of judges.

Under the current framework, a key ground for dismissal is “conduct that disgraces the status of a judge or undermines the authority of justice.” The draft laws effectively abolish this basis. Instead, they retain only narrowly defined cases (for example, property violations exceeding UAH 1.5 million or drunk driving confirmed by a sobriety test), which can be easily circumvented: a judge may unlawfully acquire assets just below the threshold or refuse to undergo testing for intoxication to avoid disciplinary liability.

The draft legislation also restricts the filing of complaints against judges in cases deemed “abusive” and introduces disproportionate fines for submitting new complaints. Complaints concerning judges who have not yet been finally dismissed by the High Council of Justice (e.g., Yevhenii Ablov, Kostiantyn Pashchenko from the OASC) or those for whom no case has yet been opened (more than 30 OASC judges) are likely to be returned to complainants due to the absence of an effective response mechanism within the High Council of Justice regarding such violations. Additionally, the draft removes failure to submit, late submission, or knowingly false information in annual asset declarations from the list of disciplinary offenses, effectively allowing judges to avoid declaring assets or income without consequence. For false information in integrity or family-related declarations, the maximum sanction is a reprimand rather than dismissal, as is currently the case.

As a result, judges who have repeatedly been implicated in controversial or discrediting cases—including corruption scandals, collaborators, judges holding dual citizenship, or those involved in facilitating draft evasion—would be able to remain in office until such facts are established in a court ruling, a process that may take 5–10 years or may never be concluded.

According to experts, the draft law effectively dismantles the institution of disciplinary accountability for judges and deprives society of one of the few available tools for ensuring judicial integrity. It is argued that this directly contradicts Ukraine’s international obligations, obstructs anti-corruption reforms, and undermines trust in the judiciary.

On July 25, 2025, the High Council of Justice held consultations with experts from the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe regarding the proposed reforms to judicial disciplinary liability contained in draft laws 13137 and 13137-1. In addition, the Plenum of the Supreme Court approved an opinion on these draft laws, highlighting significant shortcomings and the need for revision. The Center for Policy and Legal Reform also issued its position:

“In the proposed version, it not only fails to address the problem of ensuring the unity of disciplinary practice, which is a strategic objective of Ukraine within the framework of European integration, but also grants excessively broad discretion to disciplinary bodies of the High Council of Justice in qualifying judicial misconduct and its consequences, creates unjustified corruption risks, contains provisions that are not fully aligned with anti-corruption legislation, and includes internal contradictions.”

Under current legislation, all archaeological heritage sites are state property, in line with the European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage, ratified by Ukraine, and Article 54 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

However, this framework could change. Control over such valuable sites— which preserve critical information about Ukraine’s statehood and history—may be transferred to local authorities, which could subsequently gain the authority to allocate these lands to private developers.

For a detailed analysis of the risks potentially associated with this legislative initiative, see materials by the civic initiative Holka.

The legislative initiative proposes what critics describe as an “amnesty for land grabbers” and grants broad discretion to authorities over the alienation of forests, coastal and border zones, nature reserves, landscape parks, natural monuments, botanical gardens, and other protected areas.

If adopted by Parliament, the state and local communities would be able to reclaim such property through courts only within five years from the moment of allocation.

Developers have already launched media campaigns arguing in favor of “resetting” claims against them.

A detailed analysis of the risks associated with the draft law was prepared by the civic initiative Holka.

The risks of the draft law are also highlighted by the Scientific and Expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada. According to its analysis, the implementation of the proposal creates the possibility of effectively legalizing various schemes under which state and communal property is transferred into private ownership on the basis of unlawful decisions, actions, or inaction by public authorities.

As a result, the property becomes owned by a buyer who obtains the status of a bona fide acquirer, while the state and territorial communities are deprived of the right to reclaim such property that was alienated through illegal decisions.

The draft also proposes introducing a provision in the Civil Code that would require initiating criminal prosecution of responsible individuals, although these matters fall outside the scope of civil law and are regulated by criminal legislation.

In addition to holding officials or MPs accountable for transferring property into private ownership unlawfully, the authors propose obliging guilty parties to compensate the state for losses. However, in many cases, the responsible person may not have sufficient assets to cover the required compensation.

Moreover, when it comes to assets that can never be privately owned (such as the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, nature reserve fund areas, etc.), determining a monetary compensation value becomes practically impossible. If the state or community cannot reclaim such property at any time, it risks losing both the legal right and, in some cases, the object itself permanently, including irreplaceable archaeological heritage sites.

More detailed analysis of the risks is available in the civic initiative Holka materials published in Glavcom.

Land-use designation is one of the safeguards against uncontrolled development. If a developer intends to build a high-rise instead of a green zone, a change in the land-use designation must be approved by a local council.

MP from the “Servant of the People” faction Stepan Cherniavskyi submitted draft law No. 11185, which proposes allowing changes to land-use designation in cases where urban planning documentation has not been entered into the State Land Cadastre. This applies to almost all land plots across the country.

Under the proposed model, developers could negotiate directly with the chief architect to change the land-use designation to a preferred category.

Such an approach is likely to facilitate abuse in land use regulation and significantly increase corruption risks. In addition, the draft law expands opportunities for large agricultural businesses (“agro-barons”), enabling them to gain access to highly valuable land.

Analysis of the draft law was prepared by the civic initiative Holka.