A petition against the new Civil Code has been registered on the website of the President of Ukraine
May 12 on the website of the President of Ukraine registered a petition calling for preventing the adoption of the new Civil Code. At the time of writing, it had collected 1,212 signatures. The author of the petition is Khrystyna Ratushna.
She claims that the draft of the new Civil Code No. 15150 “returns Ukrainian society to the times of “domestic order”, makes the institution of marriage less attractive and instead of legal protection creates a number of risks for spouses”.
The author draws attention to the fact that in the current version of the document “the court may take measures to reconcile the spouses if this corresponds to “common sense””.
“If the spouses have a minor child, the court obliges them to “reconcile” for another month. This norm shows that the creators of the code do not treat Ukrainians as adults, capable of independently making decisions regarding their personal lives without external interference. “They also don’t understand how traumatic it can be to force a child to live with parents who no longer want to be together,” she notes.
Among other problems, the author cites the norm according to which a husband can demand that his wife return her maiden name if she has committed an “immoral act” or cheated on him. According to the initiator, there are no clear boundaries for what is considered immoral.
She also points to a provision that allows the father of a child not to pay child support if the mother earns more than him.
According to Ratushna, the Civil Code mentions the new concept of “common sense” more than 45 times, referring to “generally recognized ideas about proper behavior established in society.”
In her opinion, this contradicts the principle of legal certainty and creates opportunities for arbitrary application of norms.
“If a prosecutor or judge has been accustomed to driving for many years drunk, give bribes, humiliate your child or listen to Russian music – the new Civil Code will become a dangerous tool in his hands,” she noted.
The petition also states that the code allegedly allows discrimination against a person based on age and gender, as well as against the Ukrainian military. In addition, the document introduces the concept of a “de facto family union” as a union exclusively between a man and a woman.
The author asks the president to withdraw the document from consideration, and if it is adopted in its entirety – to “veto this legislative initiative.” She also calls for comprehensive amendments to the Civil Code with the involvement of human rights and professional communities.
In order for the petition to be considered by the President of Ukraine, it must collect at least 25 thousand signatures within 90 days.
