On September 23, 2024, the law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations” came into force, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on August 20. This law provides for a ban on the activities of religious organizations that have close ties with the aggressor state, in particular, the Moscow Patriarchate.
As reported, on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in second reading and as a whole a bill prohibiting the activities of religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (No. 8371 “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations”).
At the same time, several provisions of the document come into force later.
In particular, the day after publication, the Cabinet of Ministers begins preparing by-laws, and in nine months, the draft law will enter into force, allowing the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience to file a lawsuit to terminate the activities of a religious organization if the service has established its connection with the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church) of the aggressor country.
In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers, within three months from the date of promulgation of this law, must take measures to return state property from the use of a foreign religious organization whose activities are prohibited in Ukraine and religious organizations whose activities are not permitted, and also within six months, take measures to return state property from the use of legal entities whose owner or participant is a foreign religious organization whose activities are prohibited in the country.
