With draft law No. 7339 , MPs want to regulate the acquisition and loss of Ukrainian citizenship by certain categories of persons in connection with Russia's armed aggression.

The draft law stipulates that a person, as well as his or her close relatives, who

 denied the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine;

 glorified Russia or contributed to its aggression against Ukraine;

 have held or are currently holding positions in the bodies or institutions of the Russian Federation responsible for state security or security of the top management;

 participated or are currently participating in peacekeeping missions, activities of armed, military, paramilitary, paramilitary or other security forces of the Russian Federation;

 publicly called for a violent change of the constitutional order and integrity of Ukraine,

 are subject to sanctions in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Sanctions’.

The MPs propose an additional circumstance under which a person is not admitted to Ukrainian citizenship - if he or she poses a threat to national interests, national security, public order, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The draft law also introduces additional grounds for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship:

 participation as of 20 February 2014 and after 20 February 2014 in the armed aggression against Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation

 conviction in Ukraine for committing a crime against the foundations of national security of Ukraine, against peace, human security and international law and order, etc.

However, the draft law contains a number of corruption risks:

 Anyone who wishes to obtain Ukrainian citizenship and has the relevant grounds must confirm that they do not pose a threat to the national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, etc. But the draft law does not specify the bodies and procedures responsible for such verification, so the establishment of such circumstances may be subject to the subjective judgement of officials.This creates a corruption risk, as unscrupulous officials may demand bribes.

 Citizenship can be granted to a person who actively contributed to the armed aggression against Ukraine, but then ‘publicly supported’ the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, which negates the point of such restrictions.

TheInstitute of Legislative Ideas does not support the adoption of the draft law without significant revision.

For more details, please see our opinion.