International access to justice and multiple citizenship: new legal opportunities for Ukrainians abroad

Outside the borders of Ukraine, our citizens increasingly face complex legal issues: where to seek protection, how to obtain legal assistance, which body to contact, what will be the consequences of a new status in another state and how not to lose the legal connection with Ukraine. Therefore, decisions regarding international access to justice and new rules in the field of citizenship are of particular importance, as they directly affect the ability of Ukrainians to protect their rights abroad.

Lawyers from the Repeshko & Partners law firm, contacted by our editorial staff, commented on how Ukraine’s accession to the Convention on International Access to Justice and legislative changes in the field of multiple citizenship are changing the legal framework for Ukrainians outside the country, what is worth paying attention to and why not only the norms themselves, but also the mechanisms for their further application are of practical importance.

The last few months have been very interesting from the point of view of regulating relations in the field of international law. The number of our compatriots currently living outside the country due to military operations, as well as their current integration into foreign society, requires revolutionary steps.

On March 12, 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Ukraine’s Accession to the Convention on International Access to Justice” of October 25, 1980. This law was adopted to provide Ukraine with its consent to be bound by the Convention on International Access to Justice in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On International Treaties of Ukraine”. Ukraine’s accession to this Convention provides for simplified access for citizens of Ukraine to the system of free legal aid in the territory of other States Parties to the Convention during judicial proceedings in civil and commercial matters.

Article 1 of the Convention provides that citizens of any Contracting State, as well as persons permanently residing in any Contracting State, have the right to free legal aid during judicial proceedings in civil and commercial matters in each other Contracting State. Such right is granted on the same conditions as are applicable to citizens of this State and persons permanently residing in it.

At the same time, the right to such aid is also granted to those persons who are not covered by the first part of this Article, but who previously permanently resided in the Contracting State where the judicial proceedings are to be initiated or have already been initiated. This is possible provided that the basis of the claim is related to their previous permanent residence in this State. In those States where free legal aid is also provided in administrative, social or tax matters, the provisions of this Article shall also apply to such categories of cases, if they are considered by the courts competent in the relevant matters.

Separately, the Convention establishes that the provisions of Article 1 shall also apply to legal advice, but on condition that the person requiring it is resident in the State where such advice is requested. If the person applying for free legal aid is not resident in the State to which he is applying, he may submit his application through the authority sending the request in the Contracting State where he has his permanent residence. In this case, other available methods of transmitting such an application to the competent authority in the requested State shall be preserved.

Furthermore, nationals of any Contracting State and persons permanently resident in any Contracting State shall have the right in another Contracting State, under the same conditions as its own nationals, to obtain copies or extracts from judicial decisions and records in civil or commercial matters. Such documents may be legalised if necessary.

The Convention also provides that arrest or detention as a means of enforcement or as a measure of restraint shall not be applied in civil or commercial matters to nationals of a Contracting State or persons permanently resident in a Contracting State if, in the same circumstances, they could not be applied to nationals of the State in which the arrest or detention is made. Any circumstances that a national of that State may invoke to exempt from arrest or detention may be invoked with the same legal consequences by a national of another Contracting State or a person permanently residing in a Contracting State, even if such circumstances arise abroad.

Currently, 28 States are parties to the Convention: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Sweden and Switzerland. The Convention will apply only in relations with those States Parties that do not object to Ukraine’s accession to this Convention within 12 months.

It should be noted that an application for free legal aid is drawn up on the form attached to the Convention and must be accompanied by supporting documents. Applications, documents and responses to requests under the Convention must be drawn up in the state language of the requested state or accompanied by a translation into this language, and may also be submitted in English or French.

According to Article 3 of the Convention, the central body in Ukraine that performs the functions of receiving applications for free legal aid and taking measures in relation to them is the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. However, according to Article 4 of the Convention in Ukraine, the performance of the functions of the body that sends an application for free legal aid is entrusted to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

It is worth knowing that currently in Ukraine there is a system of free legal aid. This is a guarantee of the state to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as their access to justice. The system of free legal aid is two-tiered. Free primary legal aid includes the following types of legal services:

• providing legal information;
• providing consultations and explanations on legal issues;
• drawing up applications, complaints and other documents of a legal nature (except for documents of a procedural nature);

Free secondary legal aid is a type of state guarantee that consists in creating equal opportunities for individuals to access justice. That is, it is the state’s provision of the participation of a free lawyer in the legal process.

Free secondary legal aid includes the following types of legal services:

• protection;
• representation of the interests of persons entitled to free secondary legal aid in courts, other state bodies, local self-government bodies, before other persons;
• drawing up procedural documents.

That is, both citizens of Ukraine in countries that have ratified this Convention and citizens of countries participating in the Convention have the right to free legal aid on the territory of Ukraine.

Another innovation of the current legislation concerns dual citizenship. Let us recall that Ukraine adopted the Law “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding Ensuring the Implementation of the Right to Acquire and Maintain Citizenship”. The Law entered into force on January 16, 2026. This law establishes a simplified procedure for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship and renewing Ukrainian citizenship by foreigners. By the way, the new amendments stipulate that the states whose citizens (subjects) acquire Ukrainian citizenship in a simplified procedure are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the basis of the procedure approved by it.

The first such List of States whose citizens (subjects) acquire Ukrainian citizenship in a simplified procedure was approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on November 5, 2025, but came into force together with the law on January 16, 2026. Currently, the list includes five countries: Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Poland, the United States of America and the Czech Republic.

The specified list means that citizens of these countries can obtain a Ukrainian passport in a simplified procedure without renouncing their own, and Ukrainians in these countries can obtain a second citizenship without losing their Ukrainian. As we can see, the specified list of countries is not accidental – these countries have the largest number of Ukrainian citizens, both in the diaspora and those seeking protection from military operations.

Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine adopted an order dated 12/24/2025 No. 636 “On some issues in the field of citizenship”, which approved:

• Declaration on recognizing oneself as a citizen of Ukraine;
• Declaration on renunciation of foreign citizenship and recognizing oneself only as a citizen of Ukraine;
• Obligation to pass exams on the basics of the Constitution of Ukraine, the history of Ukraine and to determine the level of proficiency in the state language;
• Application for registration of acquisition of citizenship of Ukraine by birth;
• Application for registration of acquisition of citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin;
• Application for admission to citizenship of Ukraine.

It is worth emphasizing that many of the main issues related to multiple citizenship are currently not directly regulated by the law on multiple citizenship, but will be regulated separate by-laws that have yet to be adopted. Thus, the process of applying the law in practice is just beginning.

We advise you to closely monitor not only the adoption of laws, but also the emergence of by-laws, official clarifications and the practical mechanism for their implementation. Since this will determine the actual procedure for obtaining free legal assistance abroad, processing documents and applying new rules in the field of citizenship. In each specific situation, it is important to check in advance the list of necessary documents, translation requirements, the powers of the competent authorities and the international status of the relevant state in order to avoid mistakes and correctly use new legal opportunities.