Freedom of association

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels, in particular in political, trade union and civic matters, which implies the right of everyone to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his or her interests. Political parties at Union level contribute to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.

Article 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Freedom of association is one of the fundamental human rights enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 36 of the Constitution of Ukraine. European Commission, in its Ukraine Report 2024, noted the need to align labor standards, particularly in the field of freedom of association, to EU standards.

Text as of April 2026

Based on research and human rights practice, the following problems in the exercise of this freedom in Ukraine can be distinguished:

Despite the high level of freedom of association, there are still many unjustified and excessive restrictions on the establishment and operation of public associations and charitable organizations, even when compared to commercial entities:
- The legislation imposes additional requirements on the organization’s charter and the structure of its governing bodies, limiting the right to freely determine the governing structure as an integral part of the freedom of association.
- In practice, state registrars often lack detailed knowledge of the legal regulations governing civil society organizations, resulting in artificial obstacles when registering CSOs or amending their documents. For instance, registrars strive to use the provisions of Chapters 7 and 8 of the Civil Code of Ukraine concerning legal entities of private law (in particular, Article 83, 85–87, 96), not considering special norms of the Law “On Public Associations” and Law “On Charity Work and Charitable Organizations.” This refers to determining the governance structure and mandate of the association’s governing bodies, requirements for liquidation of associations, and more.
- The Ministry of Justice handles registration but also imposes strict and bureaucratic barriers that restrict the process.
- The law does not explicitly specify the reasons for denying registration or for the rejection of registration actions; in practice, documents are frequently sent back for finalization without review, with only oral comments, and denials are not officially recorded. The law on registration allows broader grounds for denying registration than the law on public associations.

Public associations face discrimination compared to commercial organizations because of restrictions on their international activities. Restrictions are set by the legislation governing foreign economic activity and currency regulation. Because of this, Ukrainian non-profit organizations cannot pay invoices abroad or transfer funds for joint projects and therefore cannot execute international projects from Ukraine.
Excessive requirements concerning reporting and beneficiary owners of public and charitable organizations. The obligation for public and charitable organizations to provide information on their ultimate beneficial owners, as mandated by the anti-money laundering law, constitutes an unjustified infringement on the freedom of association. The European Commission’s 2025 Report also highlights that “current regulations on combating money laundering could make it more difficult for public associations to access banking services.” Ukraine’s issue is its uneven application of FATF Recommendation No. 8 (2016, updated 2023), which calls for a risk-based approach to NGOs rather than complete oversight. Some practices of Ukrainian banks and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) go beyond a risk-oriented approach and create a de-risking effect, where banks refuse to serve entire categories of clients or certain types of transactions. This directly limits the exercise of the freedom of association.
In May 2022, a law “On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Ban on Political Parties” was enacted, providing the legal basis for the subsequent court ban of 12 political parties. In 2023, a group of MPs introduced draft law No. 9081, which proposes banning former members of banned political parties from participating in political life for ten years after martial law is lifted. The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR, in their Joint Opinion CDL-AD (2023)025, recognized the legitimate goal of protecting national security during aggression but noted that the 10-year ban term is too long. Emergency measures must be stopped after the emergency ends. The draft law states that persons covered by it “were not convicted of any crime,” which contradicts the principle of individual responsibility. The Commission recommended establishing “reliable criteria and implementing effective individual assessments.” ECtHR, in its case law (in particular, United Communist Party of Turkey v. Turkey, Refah Partisi (The Welfare Party) v. Turkey) has established that dissolving political parties should be a last resort, only permissible in exceptional cases where a party genuinely threatens democratic order, and such action must meet the principles of proportionality and necessity within a democratic society. The law does not specify clear criteria for evaluating parties’ activities when they are banned.
After the start of the full-scale aggression of Russia in February 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a series of laws significantly restricting the rights of employees and trade unions:
- The Law “On Arranging Labor Relations in Conditions of Martial Law” (March 2022) significantly restricted individual and collective employee rights, including a complete ban on strikes.
- Law No. 5371 (July 2022) established a “contractual regime for regulating labor relations” for companies with fewer than 250 employees, encompassing most employees in the country, depending on the assessment method. Collective agreements concluded by trade unions are no longer applied to these employees. Trade unions also lost the right of veto in terms of these dismissals. Before 2022, the International Labor Organization (ILO) observed that Law No. 5371 conflicts with ILO Conventions No. 87 (freedom of association and protection of the right to organize) and No. 158 (termination of employment). The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) also opposed this law, as it conflicts with the EU acquis.
- Draft Laws No. 6420 and No. 6421 (included in the parliamentary agenda for 2026) posed a threat of confiscation of trade union property.
- Introduced in Parliament on January 15, 2026, the government draft Labor Code of Ukraine (No. 14386, recommended for adoption as a basis by the line committee on February 4, 2026) contains provisions that reduce the role of trade unions in employment relations, replace the obligatory consent of trade unions for consultations, cancel special laws on collective agreements, remuneration, and vacations, and has not received a comprehensive examination by the ILO. If adopted in its current version, the draft enshrines the weakening of the trade union freedoms initiated by Law No. 5371.

The restriction of freedom of association for national The Law “On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine” restricts the freedom of association for individuals who identify with the aggressor state. Article 21(2) prohibits the associations of national minorities to cooperate with foreign entities that undermine the security of Ukraine. The Venice Commission in its Opinion CDL-AD (2023)021 recommended including these restrictions related to the armed aggression in transitional provisions or criminal law, rather than applying them exclusively to persons belonging to national minorities, to avoid excessive restrictions on freedom of association.
Attacks on activists and representatives of civil society. Many reports from international and Ukrainian human rights organizations state that attacks on civil society remain widespread and often go uninvestigated. The lack of responsibility creates a “climate of impunity.” There are cases of selective criminal prosecution, discrediting campaigns in the media and Telegram channels, SLAPP lawsuits, and various forms of administrative pressure. This contradicts the positive obligations of the state under Article 11 of the ECHR and Article 12 of the EU Charter to ensure the effective exercise of freedom of association.
Insufficient social dialog and participation of public associations in decision-making. The Law “On Public Consultations,” adopted in June 2024, requires public consultations for decision-making. However, this law will take effect only 12 months after the martial law ends. In a prolonged war, such restrictions are clearly unjustified and create negative practices of no consultation.
There is no systematic collection or dissemination of information regarding the state of the freedom of association: such as the number of registered associations, banned associations and their reasons, denials of registration attempts with specified causes, statistics on attacks against civil society representatives, and updates on the progress of investigations.

What Ukraine needs to do during its accession to the EU to improve the situation:

Simplify requirements for public associations and charitable foundations, ensuring access to banking services.

Remove para. 11, part 1 of Article 5 of the Law “On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations” and transfer registration functions from the Ministry of Justice to other state registration entities.
Exclude public and charitable organizations from the list of entities required to provide information on ultimate beneficial owners and introduce a simplified procedure that considers the specifics of PO activities.
Introduce the “option of light registration” for small associations (up to 50 members and an annual budget up to UAH 500,000) — a simplified charter, no requirements for a beneficial owner, and free e-registration via DIIA.
Reduce the number of requirements for the charter of associations to the level of commercial organizations, such as LLCs.
Ensure access for public associations to banking services by removing excessive requirements for financial monitoring.
Ensure that reporting and transparency requirements for associations are proportionate and do not impose excessive administrative burdens, in line with case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and the recommendations of the FRA (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights).
Limit the Civil Code’s application to setting additional requirements for association registration documents.
Create a public open database of registered public and charitable organizations with API for proper analysis.

Ensure the participation of public associations in decision-making:

Ensure the main provisions of the Law “On Public Consultations” (2024) come into force immediately, without waiting for the end of martial law. This should apply at least to issues not related to national security.
Restore and strengthen public councils under ministries, executive authorities, and local governments by ensuring real, rather than formal, influence on decision-making.

Restore and strengthen the rights of trade unions:

Revise Law No. 5371 to bring it into line with ILO Conventions No. 87 (freedom of association), No. 98 (collective bargaining) and No. 158 (termination of employment). Ensure that collective agreements apply to all employees regardless of the size of the enterprise.
Abolish the absolute ban on strikes during martial law and replace it with proportionate restrictions for certain critical infrastructure workers, following ILO practice and the revised European Social Charter (revised).
Resume the National Tripartite Council’s activities and ensure comprehensive social dialog in line with EU Directive 2002/14/EC and Article 28 of the EU Charter (right to collective bargaining).
Withdraw or substantially revise new draft laws that make wartime restrictions permanent. Ensure the participation of trade unions in the development of legislation in accordance with ILO principles and the EU acquis.
Ensure the protection of trade union property from confiscation and prevent legislative measures from weakening the resource base of trade unions.
To the Verkhovna Rada: postpone adopting the draft of the new Labor Code (draft No. 14386 of January 15, 2026) until a full assessment by the ILO and a positive conclusion on its compliance with ILO Conventions No. 87 (freedom of association) and No. 98 (collective bargaining), the European Social Charter, and the EU acquis on employment and social policy.
To the Ministry of Justice: simplify the procedure for registering trade unions by introducing a one-stop shop for registration and eliminating contradictions between laws on acquiring legal entity status. Alternatively, transfer registration functions to other registrars.
To the Verkhovna Rada: abandon the confiscation of trade union property in line with the ECtHR judgment. Ensure a fair distribution of property inherited from Soviet trade unions among all trade union associations.

Significantly revise draft law No. 8084 to address its excessive restrictions on freedom of association and the need to re-register thousands of associations. Restrictions requiring organizations to change registration documents and management structure must be removed.
Ensure that any restrictions on participation in political life, such as those in draft law No. 9081, are based on demonstrated individual responsibility rather than party membership.
Review the restrictions on freedom of association in the Law on “National Minorities” according to the Venice Commission recommendations (CDL-AD (2023) 021). Move the restrictions to transitional provisions or criminal law and ensure they are non-discriminatory.

Protect activists and representatives of civil society:

Ensure effective investigation of all cases of attacks, threats, and pressure on activists and public associations’ representatives. Create a specialized unit or coordination mechanism to investigate such cases.
Implement the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive (2024/1069) into national legislation to protect organizers and participants of public associations from strategic litigation.

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Experts

Volodymyr Yavorskyy

lawyer, human rights defender, program director of the NGO “Center for Civil Liberties”