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Human and Citizens' Rights,
Freedoms and Duties Article 21
• All people are free and equal in their dignity and rights.
• Human rights and freedoms are inalienable and inviolable.
Article 22
• Human and citizens' rights and freedoms affirmed by this Constitution
are not exhaustive.
• Constitutional rights and freedoms are guaranteed and shall not
be abolished.
• The content and scope of existing rights and freedoms shall not
be diminished in the adoption of new laws or in the amendment of laws
that are in force.
Article 23
• Every person has the right to free development of his or her personality
if the rights and freedoms of other persons are not violated thereby,
and has duties before the society in which the free and comprehensive
development of his or her personality is ensured.
Article 24
• Citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are
equal before the law.
• There shall be no privileges or restrictions based on race, colour
of skin, political, religious and other beliefs, sex, ethnic and social
origin, property status, place of residence, linguistic or other characteristics.
• Equality of the rights of women and men is ensured: by providing
women with opportunities equal to those of men, in public and political,
and cultural activity, in obtaining education and in professional training,
in work and its remuneration; by spe cial measures for the protection
of work and health of women; by establishing pension privileges, by creating
conditions that allow women to combine work and motherhood; by legal protection,
material and moral support of motherhood and childhood, includin g the
provision of paid leaves and other privileges to pregnant women and mothers.
Article 25
• A citizen of Ukraine shall not be deprived of citizenship and
of the right to change citizenship.
• A citizen of Ukraine shall not be expelled from Ukraine or surrendered
to another state.
• Ukraine guarantees care and protection to its citizens who are
beyond its borders.
Article 26
• Foreigners and stateless persons who are in Ukraine on legal grounds
enjoy the same rights and freedoms and also bear the same duties as citizens
of Ukraine, with the exceptions established by the Constitution, laws
or international treaties of Ukrain e.
• Foreigners and stateless persons may be granted asylum by the
procedure established by law.
Article 27
• Every person has the inalienable right to life.
• No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life. The duty of the
State is to protect human life.
• Everyone has the right to protect his or her life and health,
the lives and health of other persons against unlawful encroachments.
Article 28
• Everyone has the right to respect of his or her dignity.
• No one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment that violates his or her dignity.
• No person shall be subjected to medical, scientific or other experiments
without his or her free consent.
Article 29
• Every person has the right to freedom and personal inviolability.
• No one shall be arrested or held in custody other than pursuant
to a substantiated court decision and only on the grounds and in accordance
with the procedure established by law.
• In the event of an urgent necessity to prevent or stop a crime,
bodies authorised by law may hold a person in custody as a temporary preventive
measure, the reasonable grounds for which shall be verified by a court
within seventy-two hours. The detai ned person shall be released immediately,
if he or she has not been provided, within seventy-two hours from the
moment of detention, with a substantiated court decision in regard to
the holding in custody.
• Everyone arrested or detained shall be informed without delay
of the reasons for his or her arrest or detention, apprised of his or
her rights, and from the moment of detention shall be given the opportunity
to personally defend himself or herself, or to have the legal assistance
of a defender.
• Everyone detained has the right to challenge his or her detention
in court at any time.
• Relatives of an arrested or detained person shall be informed
immediately of his or her arrest or detention.
Article 30
• Everyone is guaranteed the inviolability of his or her dwelling
place.
• Entry into a dwelling place or other possessions of a person,
and the examination or search thereof, shall not be permitted, other than
pursuant to a substantiated court decision.
• In urgent cases related to the preservation of human life and
property or to the direct pursuit of persons suspected of committing a
crime, another procedure established by law is possible for entry into
a dwelling place or other possessions of a pers on, and for the examination
and search thereof.
Article 31
• Everyone is guaranteed privacy of mail, telephone conversations,
telegraph and other correspondence. Exceptions shall be established only
by a court in cases envisaged by law, with the purpose of preventing crime
or ascertaining the truth in the cour se of the investigation of a criminal
case, if it is not possible to obtain information by other means.
Article 32
• No one shall be subject to interference in his or her personal
and family life, except in cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
• The collection, storage, use and dissemination of confidential
information about a person without his or her consent shall not be permitted,
except in cases determined by law, and only in the interests of national
security, economic welfare and human rights.
• Every citizen has the right to examine information about himself
or herself, that is not a state secret or other secret protected by law,
at the bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, institutions
and organisations.
• Everyone is guaranteed judicial protection of the right to rectify
incorrect information about himself or herself and members of his or her
family, and of the right to demand that any type of information be expunged,
and also the right to compensation for material and moral damages inflicted
by the collection, storage, use and dissemination of such incorrect information.
Article 33
• Everyone who is legally present on the territory of Ukraine is
guaranteed freedom of movement, free choice of place of residence, and
the right to freely leave the territory of Ukraine, with the exception
of restrictions established by law.
• A citizen of Ukraine may not be deprived of the right to return
to Ukraine at any time.
Article 34
• Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom of thought and speech,
and to the free expression of his or her views and beliefs.
• Everyone has the right to freely collect, store, use and disseminate
information by oral, written or other means of his or her choice.
• The exercise of these rights may be restricted by law in the interests
of national security, territorial indivisibility or public order, with
the purpose of preventing disturbances or crimes, protecting the health
of the population, the reputation or rights of other persons, preventing
the publication of information received confidentially, or supporting
the authority and impartiality of justice.
Article 35
• Everyone has the right to freedom of personal philosophy and religion.
This right includes the freedom to profess or not to profess any religion,
to perform alone or collectively and without constraint religious rites
and ceremonial rituals, and to c onduct religious activity.
• The exercise of this right may be restricted by law only in the
interests of protecting public order, the health and morality of the population,
or protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons.
• The Church and religious organisations in Ukraine are separated
from the State, and the school — from the Church. No religion shall
be recognised by the State as mandatory.
• No one shall be relieved of his or her duties before the State
or refuse to perform the laws for reasons of religious beliefs. In the
event that the performance of military duty is contrary to the religious
beliefs of a citizen, the performance of th is duty shall be replaced
by alternative (non-military) service.
Article 36
• Citizens of Ukraine have the right to freedom of association in
political parties and public organisations for the exercise and protection
of their rights and freedoms and for the satisfaction of their political,
economic, social, cultural and other i nterests, with the exception of
restrictions established by law in the interests of national security
and public order, the protection of the health of the population or the
protection of rights and freedoms of other persons.
• Political parties in Ukraine promote the formation and expression
of the political will of citizens, and participate in elections. Only
citizens of Ukraine may be members of political parties. Restrictions
on membership in political parties are esta blished exclusively by this
Constitution and the laws of Ukraine.
• Citizens have the right to take part in trade unions with the
purpose of protecting their labour and socio-economic rights and interests.
Trade unions are public organisations that unite citizens bound by common
interests that accord with the nature of their professional activity.
Trade unions are formed without prior permission on the basis of the free
choice of their members. All trade unions have equal rights. Restrictions
on membership in trade unions are established exclusively by this Consti
tution and the laws of Ukraine.
• No one may be forced to join any association of citizens or be
restricted in his or her rights for belonging or not belonging to political
parties or public organisations.
• All associations of citizens are equal before the law.
Article 37
• The establishment and activity of political parties and public
associations are prohibited if their programme goals or actions are aimed
at the liquidation of the independence of Ukraine, the change of the constitutional
order by violent means, the vi olation of the sovereignty and territorial
indivisibility of the State, the undermining of its security, the unlawful
seizure of state power, the propaganda of war and of violence, the incitement
of inter-ethnic, racial, or religious enmity, and the encro achments on
human rights and freedoms and the health of the population.
• Political parties and public associations shall not have paramilitary
formations.
• The creation and activity of organisational structures of political
parties shall not be permitted within bodies of executive and judicial
power and executive bodies of local self-government, in military formations,
and also in state enterprises, educ ational establishments and other state
institutions and organisations.
• The prohibition of the activity of associations of citizens is
exercised only through judicial procedure.
Article 38
• Citizens have the right to participate in the administration of
state affairs, in All-Ukrainian and local referendums, to freely elect
and to be elected to bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government.
• Citizens enjoy the equal right of access to the civil service
and to service in bodies of local self-government.
Article 39
• Citizens have the right to assemble peacefully without arms and
to hold meetings, rallies, processions and demonstrations, upon notifying
in advance the bodies of executive power or bodies of local self-government.
• Restrictions on the exercise of this right may be established
by a court in accordance with the law and only in the interests of national
security and public order, with the purpose of preventing disturbances
or crimes, protecting the health of the po pulation, or protecting the
rights and freedoms of other persons.
Article 40
• Everyone has the right to file individual or collective petitions,
or to personally appeal to bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government,
and to the officials and officers of these bodies, that are obliged to
consider the petitions and to provide a substantiated reply within the
term established by law.
Article 41
• Everyone has the right to own, use and dispose of his or her property,
and the results of his or her intellectual and creative activity.
• The right of private property is acquired by the procedure determined
by law.
• In order to satisfy their needs, citizens may use the objects
of the right of state and communal property in accordance with the law.
• No one shall be unlawfully deprived of the right of property.
The right of private property is inviolable.
• The expropriation of objects of the right of private property
may be applied only as an exception for reasons of social necessity, on
the grounds of and by the procedure established by law, and on the condition
of advance and complete compensation of their value. The expropriation
of such objects with subsequent complete compensation of their value is
permitted only under conditions of martial law or a state of emergency.
• Confiscation of property may be applied only pursuant to a court
decision, in the cases, in the extent and by the procedure established
by law.
• The use of property shall not cause harm to the rights, freedoms
and dignity of citizens, the interests of society, aggravate the ecological
situation and the natural qualities of land.
Article 42
• Everyone has the right to entrepreneurial activity that is not
prohibited by law.
• The entrepreneurial activity of deputies, officials and officers
of bodies of state power and of bodies of local self-government is restricted
by law.
• The State ensures the protection of competition in entrepreneurial
activity. The abuse of a monopolistic position in the market, the unlawful
restriction of competition, and unfair competition, shall not be permitted.
The types and limits of monopol ies are determined by law.
• The State protects the rights of consumers, exercises control
over the quality and safety of products and of all types of services and
work, and promotes the activity of public consumer associations.
Article 43
• Everyone has the right to labour, including the possibility to
earn one's living by labour that he or she freely chooses or to which
he or she freely agrees.
• The State creates conditions for citizens to fully realise their
right to labour, guarantees equal opportunities in the choice of profession
and of types of labour activity, implements programmes of vocational education,
training and retraining of per sonnel according to the needs of society.
• The use of forced labour is prohibited. Military or alternative
(non-military) service, and also work or service carried out by a person
in compliance with a verdict or other court decision, or in accordance
with the laws on martial law or on a state of emergency, are not considered
to be forced labour.
• Everyone has the right to proper, safe and healthy work conditions,
and to remuneration no less than the minimum wage as determined by law.
• The employment of women and minors for work that is hazardous
to their health, is prohibited.
• Citizens are guaranteed protection from unlawful dismissal.
• The right to timely payment for labour is protected by law.
Article 44
• Those who are employed have the right to strike for the protection
of their economic and social interests.
• The procedure for exercising the right to strike is established
by law, taking into account the necessity to ensure national security,
health protection, and rights and freedoms of other persons.
• No one shall be forced to participate or not to participate in
a strike.
• The prohibition of a strike is possible only on the basis of the
law.
Article 45
• Everyone who is employed has the right to rest.
• This right is ensured by providing weekly rest days and also paid
annual vacation, by establishing a shorter working day for certain professions
and industries, and reduced working hours at night.
• The maximum number of working hours, the minimum duration of rest
and of paid annual vacation, days off and holidays as well as other conditions
for exercising this right, are determined by law.
Article 46
• Citizens have the right to social protection that includes the
right to provision in cases of complete, partial or temporary disability,
the loss of the principal wage-earner, unemployment due to circumstances
beyond their control and also in old age, and in other cases established
by law.
• This right is guaranteed by general mandatory state social insurance
on account of the insurance payments of citizens, enterprises, institutions
and organisations, and also from budgetary and other sources of social
security; by the establishment of a network of state, communal and private
institutions to care for persons incapable of work.
• Pensions and other types of social payments and assistance that
are the principal sources of subsistence, shall ensure a standard of living
not lower than the minimum living standard established by law.
Article 47
• Everyone has the right to housing. The State creates conditions
that enable every citizen to build, purchase as property, or to rent housing.
• Citizens in need of social protection are provided with housing
by the State and bodies of local self-government, free of charge or at
a price affordable for them, in accordance with the law.
• No one shall be forcibly deprived of housing other than on the
basis of the law pursuant to a court decision.
Article 48
• Everyone has the right to a standard of living sufficient for
himself or herself and his or her family that includes adequate nutrition,
clothing and housing.
Article 49
• Everyone has the right to health protection, medical care and
medical insurance.
• Health protection is ensured through state funding of the relevant
socio-economic, medical and sanitary, health improvement and prophylactic
programmes.
• The State creates conditions for effective medical service accessible
to all citizens. State and communal health protection institutions provide
medical care free of charge; the existing network of such institutions
shall not be reduced. The State p romotes the development of medical institutions
of all forms of ownership.
• The State provides for the development of physical culture and
sports, and ensures sanitary-epidemic welfare.
Article 50
• Everyone has the right to an environment that is safe for life
and health, and to compensation for damages inflicted through the violation
of this right.
• Everyone is guaranteed the right of free access to information
about the environmental situation, the quality of food and consumer goods,
and also the right to disseminate such information. No one shall make
such information secret.
Article 51
• Marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man. Each
of the spouses has equal rights and duties in the marriage and family.
• Parents are obliged to support their children until they attain
the age of majority. Adult children are obliged to care for their parents
who are incapable of work.
• The family, childhood, motherhood and fatherhood are under the
protection of the State.
Article 52
• Children are equal in their rights regardless of their origin
and whether they are born in or out of wedlock.
• Any violence against a child, or his or her exploitation, shall
be prosecuted by law.
• The maintenance and upbringing of orphans and children deprived
of parental care is entrusted to the State. The State encourages and supports
charitable activity in regard to children.
Article 53
• Everyone has the right to education.
• Complete general secondary education is compulsory.
• The State ensures accessible and free pre-school, complete general
secondary, vocational and higher education in state and communal educational
establishments; the development of pre-school, complete general secondary,
extra-curricular, vocational, hi gher and post-graduate education, various
forms of instruction; the provision of state scholarships and privileges
to pupils and students.
• Citizens have the right to obtain free higher education in state
and communal educational establishments on a competitive basis.
• Citizens who belong to national minorities are guaranteed in accordance
with the law the right to receive instruction in their native language,
or to study their native language in state and communal educational establishments
and through national cul tural societies.
Article 54
• Citizens are guaranteed the freedom of literary, artistic, scientific
and technical creativity, protection of intellectual property, their copyrights,
moral and material interests that arise with regard to various types of
intellectual activity.
• Every citizen has the right to the results of his or her intellectual,
creative activity; no one shall use or distribute them without his or
her consent, with the exceptions established by law.
• The State promotes the development of science and the establishment
of scientific relations of Ukraine with the world community.
• Cultural heritage is protected by law.
• The State ensures the preservation of historical monuments and
other objects of cultural value, and takes measures to return to Ukraine
the cultural treasures of the nation, that are located beyond its borders.
Article 55
• Human and citizens' rights and freedoms are protected by the court.
• Everyone is guaranteed the right to challenge in court the decisions,
actions or omission of bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government,
officials and officers.
• Everyone has the right to appeal for the protection of his or
her rights to the Authorised Human Rights Representative of the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine.
• After exhausting all domestic legal remedies, everyone has the
right to appeal for the protection of his or her rights and freedoms to
the relevant international judicial institutions or to the relevant bodies
of international organisations of which U kraine is a member or participant.
• Everyone has the right to protect his or her rights and freedoms
from violations and illegal encroachments by any means not prohibited
by law.
Article 56
• Everyone has the right to compensation, at the expense of the
State or bodies of local self-government, for material and moral damages
inflicted by unlawful decisions, actions or omission of bodies of state
power, bodies of local self-government, thei r officials and officers
during the exercise of their authority.
Article 57
• Everyone is guaranteed the right to know his or her rights and
duties.
• Laws and other normative legal acts that determine the rights
and duties of citizens shall be brought to the notice of the population
by the procedure established by law.
• Laws and other normative legal acts that determine the rights
and duties of citizens, but that are not brought to the notice of the
population by the procedure established by law, are not in force.
Article 58
• Laws and other normative legal acts have no retroactive force,
except in cases where they mitigate or annul the responsibility of a person.
• No one shall bear responsibility for acts that, at the time they
were committed, were not deemed by law to be an offence.
Article 59
• Everyone has the right to legal assistance. Such assistance is
provided free of charge in cases envisaged by law. Everyone is free to
choose the defender of his or her rights.
• In Ukraine, the advocacy acts to ensure the right to a defence
against accusation and to provide legal assistance in deciding cases in
courts and other state bodies.
Article 60
• No one is obliged to execute rulings or orders that are manifestly
criminal.
• For the issuance or execution of a manifestly criminal ruling
or order, legal liability arises.
Article 61
• For one and the same offence, no one shall be brought twice to
legal liability of the same type.
• The legal liability of a person is of an individual character.
Article 62
• A person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall
not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved
through legal procedure and established by a court verdict of guilty.
• No one is obliged to prove his or her innocence of committing
a crime.
• An accusation shall not be based on illegally obtained evidence
as well as on assumptions. All doubts in regard to the proof of guilt
of a person are interpreted in his or her favour.
• In the event that a court verdict is revoked as unjust, the State
compensates the material and moral damages inflicted by the groundless
conviction.
Article 63
• A person shall not bear responsibility for refusing to testify
or to explain anything about himself or herself, members of his or her
family or close relatives in the degree determined by law.
• A suspect, an accused, or a defendant has the right to a defence.
• A convicted person enjoys all human and citizens' rights, with
the exception of restrictions determined by law and established by a court
verdict.
Article 64
• Constitutional human and citizens' rights and freedoms shall not
be restricted, except in cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
• Under conditions of martial law or a state of emergency, specific
restrictions on rights and freedoms may be established with the indication
of the period of effectiveness of these restrictions. The rights and freedoms
envisaged in Articles 24, 25, 2 7, 28, 29, 40, 47, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57,
58, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 of this Constitution shall not be restricted.
Article 65
• Defence of the Motherland, of the independence and territorial
indivisibility of Ukraine, and respect for its state symbols, are the
duties of citizens of Ukraine.
• Citizens perform military service in accordance with the law.
Article 66
• Everyone is obliged not to harm nature, cultural heritage and
to compensate for any damage he or she inflicted.
Article 67
• Everyone is obliged to pay taxes and levies in accordance with
the procedure and in the extent established by law.
• All citizens annually file declarations with the tax inspection
at their place of residence, on their property status and income for the
previous year, by the procedure established by law.
Article 68
• Everyone is obliged to strictly abide by the Constitution of Ukraine
and the laws of Ukraine, and not to encroach upon the rights and freedoms,
honour and dignity of other persons.
• Ignorance of the law shall not exempt from legal liability. |
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