Chapter
II. Human and Citizens' Rights, Freedoms and
Duties
Article 21.
All people are free and equal in their dignity
and rights.
Human rights and freedoms are inalienable and
inviolable.
Article 22.
Human and citizens' rights and freedoms affirmed
by this Constitution are not exhaustive.
Constitutional rights and freedoms are guaranteed
and shall not be abolished.
The content and scope of existing rights and
freedoms shall not be diminished in the adoption
of new laws or in the amendment of laws that
are in force.
Article 23.
Every person has the right to free development
of his or her personality if the rights and
freedoms of other persons are not violated thereby,
and has duties before the society in which the
free and comprehensive development of his or
her personality is ensured.
Article 24.
Citizens have equal constitutional rights and
freedoms and are equal before the law.
There shall be no privileges or restrictions
based on race, colour of skin, political, religious
and other beliefs, sex, ethnic and social origin,
property status, place of residence, linguistic
or other characteristics.
Equality of the rights of women and men is ensured:
by providing women with opportunities equal
to those of men, in public and political, and
cultural activity, in obtaining education and
in professional training, in work and its remuneration;
by special measures for the protection of work
and health of women; by establishing pension
privileges, by creating conditions that allow
women to combine work and motherhood; by legal
protection, material and moral support of motherhood
and childhood, including g the provision of
paid leaves and other privileges to pregnant
women and mothers.
Article 25.
A citizen of Ukraine shall not be deprived of
citizenship and of the right to change citizenship.
A citizen of Ukraine shall not be expelled from
Ukraine or surrendered to another state.
Ukraine guarantees care and protection to its
citizens who are beyond its borders.
Article 26.
Foreigners and stateless persons who are in
Ukraine on legal grounds enjoy the same rights
and freedoms and also bear the same duties as
citizens of Ukraine, with the exceptions established
by the Constitution, laws or international treaties
of Ukraine.
Foreigners and stateless persons may be granted
asylum by the procedure established by law.
Article 27.
Every person has the inalienable right to life.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life.
The duty of the State is to protect human life.
Everyone has the right to protect his or her
life and health, the lives and health of other
persons against unlawful encroachments.
Article 28.
Everyone has the right to respect of his or
her dignity.
No one shall be subjected to torture, cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
that violates his or her dignity.
No person shall be subjected to medical, scientific
or other experiments without his or her free
consent.
Article 29.
Every person has the right to freedom and personal
inviolability.
No one shall be arrested or held in custody
other than pursuant to a substantiated court
decision and only on the grounds and in accordance
with the procedure established by law.
In the event of an urgent necessity to prevent
or stop a crime, bodies authorized by law may
hold a person in custody as a temporary preventive
measure, the reasonable grounds for which shall
be verified by a court within seventy-two hours.
The detained person shall be released immediately,
if he or she has not been provided, within seventy-two
hours from the moment of detention, with a substantiated
court decision in regard to the holding in custody.
Everyone arrested or detained shall be informed
without delay of the reasons for his or her
arrest or detention, apprised of his or her
rights, and from the moment of detention shall
be given the opportunity to personally defend
himself or herself, or to have the legal assistance
of a defender.
Everyone detained has the right to challenge
his or her detention in court at any time.
Relatives of an arrested or detained person
shall be informed immediately of his or her
arrest or detention.
Article 30.
Everyone is guaranteed the inviolability of
his or her dwelling place.
Entry into a dwelling place or other possessions
of a person, and the examination or search thereof,
shall not be permitted, other than pursuant
to a substantiated court decision.
In urgent cases related to the preservation
of human life and property or to the direct
pursuit of persons suspected of committing a
crime, another procedure established by law
is possible for entry into a dwelling place
or other possessions of a person, and for the
examination and search thereof.
Article 31.
Everyone is guaranteed privacy of mail, telephone
conversations, telegraph and other correspondence.
Exceptions shall be established only by a court
in cases envisaged by law, with the purpose
of preventing crime or ascertaining the truth
in the course of the investigation of a criminal
case, if it is not possible to obtain information
by other means.
Article 32.
No one shall be subject to interference in his
or her personal and family life, except in cases
envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
The collection, storage, use and dissemination
of confidential information about a person without
his or her consent shall not be permitted, except
in cases determined by law, and only in the
interests of national security, economic welfare
and human rights.
Every citizen has the right to examine information
about himself or herself, that is not a state
secret or other secret protected by law, at
the bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government,
institutions and organizations.
Everyone is guaranteed judicial protection of
the right to rectify incorrect information about
himself or herself and members of his or her
family, and of the right to demand that any
type of information be expunged, and also the
right to compensation for material and moral
damages inflicted by the collection, storage,
use and dissemination of such incorrect information.
Article 33.
Everyone who is legally present on the territory
of Ukraine is guaranteed freedom of movement,
free choice of place of residence, and the right
to freely leave the territory of Ukraine, with
the exception of restrictions established by
law.
A citizen of Ukraine may not be deprived of
the right to return to Ukraine at any time.
Article 34.
Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom
of thought and speech, and to the free expression
of his or her views and beliefs.
Everyone has the right to freely collect, store,
use and disseminate information by oral, written
or other means of his or her choice.
The exercise of these rights may be restricted
by law in the interests of national security,
territorial indivisibility or public order,
with the purpose of preventing disturbances
or crimes, protecting the health of the population,
the reputation or rights of other persons, preventing
the publication of information received confidentially,
or supporting the authority and impartiality
of justice.
Article 35.
Everyone has the right to freedom of personal
philosophy and religion. This right includes
the freedom to profess or not to profess any
religion, to perform alone or collectively and
without constraint religious rites and ceremonial
rituals, and to conduct religious activity.
The exercise of this right may be restricted
by law only in the interests of protecting public
order, the health and morality of the population,
or protecting the rights and freedoms of other
persons.
The Church and religious organizations in Ukraine
are separated from the State, and the school
- from the Church. No religion shall be recognized
by the State as mandatory.
No one shall be relieved of his or her duties
before the State or refuse to perform the laws
for reasons of religious beliefs. In the event
that the performance of military duty is contrary
to the religious beliefs of a citizen, the performance
of this duty shall be replaced by alternative
(non-military) service.
Article 36.
Citizens of Ukraine have the right to freedom
of association in political parties and public
organizations for the exercise and protection
of their rights and freedoms and for the satisfaction
of their political, economic, social, cultural
and other i nterests, with the exception of
restrictions established by law in the interests
of national security and public order, the protection
of the health of the population or the protection
of rights and freedoms of other persons.
Political parties in Ukraine promote the formation
and expression of the political will of citizens,
and participate in elections. Only citizens
of Ukraine may be members of political parties.
Restrictions on membership in political parties
are established exclusively by this Constitution
and the laws of Ukraine.
Citizens have the right to take part in trade
unions with the purpose of protecting their
labour and socio-economic rights and interests.
Trade unions are public organizations that unite
citizens bound by common interests that accord
with the nature of their professional activity.
Trade unions are formed without prior permission
on the basis of the free choice of their members.
All trade unions have equal rights. Restrictions
on membership in trade unions are established
exclusively by this Constitution and the laws
of Ukraine.
No one may be forced to join any association
of citizens or be restricted in his or her rights
for belonging or not belonging to political
parties or public organizations.
All associations of citizens are equal before
the law.
Article 37.
The establishment and activity of political
parties and public associations are prohibited
if their programme goals or actions are aimed
at the liquidation of the independence of Ukraine,
the change of the constitutional order by violent
means, the violation of the sovereignty and
territorial indivisibility of the State, the
undermining of its security, the unlawful seizure
of state power, the propaganda of war and of
violence, the incitement of inter-ethnic, racial,
or religious enmity, and the encroachments on
human rights and freedoms and the health of
the population.
Political parties and public associations shall
not have paramilitary formations.
The creation and activity of organizational
structures of political parties shall not be
permitted within bodies of executive and judicial
power and executive bodies of local self-government,
in military formations, and also in state enterprises,
educational establishments and other state institutions
and organizations.
The prohibition of the activity of associations
of citizens is exercised only through judicial
procedure.
Article 38.
Citizens have the right to participate in the
administration of state affairs, in All-Ukrainian
and local referendums, to freely elect and to
be elected to bodies of state power and bodies
of local self-government.
Citizens enjoy the equal right of access to
the civil service and to service in bodies of
local self-government.
Article 39.
Citizens have the right to assemble peacefully
without arms and to hold meetings, rallies,
processions and demonstrations, upon notifying
in advance the bodies of executive power or
bodies of local self-government.
Restrictions on the exercise of this right may
be established by a court in accordance with
the law and only in the interests of national
security and public order, with the purpose
of preventing disturbances or crimes, protecting
the health of the population, or protecting
the rights and freedoms of other persons.
Article 40.
Everyone has the right to file individual or
collective petitions, or to personally appeal
to bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government,
and to the officials and officers of these bodies,
that are obliged to consider the petitions and
to provide a substantiated reply within the
term established by law.
Article 41.
Everyone has the right to own, use and dispose
of his or her property, and the results of his
or her intellectual and creative activity.
The right of private property is acquired by
the procedure determined by law.
In order to satisfy their needs, citizens may
use the objects of the right of state and communal
property in accordance with the law.
No one shall be unlawfully deprived of the right
of property. The right of private property is
inviolable.
The expropriation of objects of the right of
private property may be applied only as an exception
for reasons of social necessity, on the grounds
of and by the procedure established by law,
and on the condition of advance and complete
compensation of their value. The expropriation
of such objects with subsequent complete compensation
of their value is permitted only under conditions
of martial law or a state of emergency.
Confiscation of property may be applied only
pursuant to a court decision, in the cases,
in the extent and by the procedure established
by law.
The use of property shall not cause harm to
the rights, freedoms and dignity of citizens,
the interests of society, aggravate the ecological
situation and the natural qualities of land.
Article 42.
Everyone has the right to entrepreneurial activity
that is not prohibited by law.
The entrepreneurial activity of deputies, officials
and officers of bodies of state power and of
bodies of local self-government is restricted
by law.
The State ensures the protection of competition
in entrepreneurial activity. The abuse of a
monopolistic position in the market, the unlawful
restriction of competition, and unfair competition,
shall not be permitted. The types and limits
of monopolies are determined by law.
The State protects the rights of consumers;
exercises control over the quality and safety
of products and of all types of services and
work, and promotes the activity of public consumer
associations.
Article 43.
Everyone has the right to labour, including
the possibility to earn one's living by labour
that he or she freely chooses or to which he
or she freely agrees.
The State creates conditions for citizens to
fully realize their right to labour, guarantees
equal opportunities in the choice of profession
and of types of labour activity, implements
programmes of vocational education, training
and retraining of personnel according to the
needs of society.
The use of forced labour is prohibited. Military
or alternative (non-military) service, and also
work or service carried out by a person in compliance
with a verdict or other court decision, or in
accordance with the laws on martial law or on
a state of emergency, are not considered to
be forced labour.
Everyone has the right to proper, safe and healthy
work conditions, and to remuneration no less
than the minimum wage as determined by law.
The employment of women and minors for work
that is hazardous to their health, is prohibited.
Citizens are guaranteed protection from unlawful
dismissal.
The right to timely payment for labour is protected
by law.
Article 44.
Those who are employed have the right to strike
for the protection of their economic and social
interests.
The procedure for exercising the right to strike
is established by law, taking into account the
necessity to ensure national security, health
protection, and rights and freedoms of other
persons.
No one shall be forced to participate or not
to participate in a strike.
The prohibition of a strike is possible only
on the basis of the law.
Article 45.
Everyone who is employed has the right to rest.
This right is ensured by providing weekly rest
days and also paid annual vacation, by establishing
a shorter working day for certain professions
and industries, and reduced working hours at
night.
The maximum number of working hours, the minimum
duration of rest and of paid annual vacation,
days off and holidays as well as other conditions
for exercising this right, are determined by
law.
Article 46.
Citizens have the right to social protection
that includes the right to provision in cases
of complete, partial or temporary disability,
the loss of the principal wage-earner, unemployment
due to circumstances beyond their control and
also in old age, and in other cases established
by law.
This right is guaranteed by general mandatory
state social insurance on account of the insurance
payments of citizens, enterprises, institutions
and organisations, and also from budgetary and
other sources of social security; by the establishment
of a network of state, communal and private
institutions to care for persons incapable of
work.
Pensions and other types of social payments
and assistance that are the principal sources
of subsistence, shall ensure a standard of living
not lower than the minimum living standard established
by law.
Article 47.
Everyone has the right to housing. The State
creates conditions that enable every citizen
to build, purchase as property, or to rent housing.
Citizens in need of social protection are provided
with housing by the State and bodies of local
self-government, free of charge or at a price
affordable for them, in accordance with the
law.
No one shall be forcibly deprived of housing
other than on the basis of the law pursuant
to a court decision.
Article 48.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living
sufficient for himself or herself and his or
her family that includes adequate nutrition,
clothing and housing.
Article 49.
Everyone has the right to health protection,
medical care and medical insurance.
Health protection is ensured through state funding
of the relevant socio-economic, medical and
sanitary, health improvement and prophylactic
programmes.
The State creates conditions for effective medical
service accessible to all citizens. State and
communal health protection institutions provide
medical care free of charge; the existing network
of such institutions shall not be reduced. The
State promotes the development of medical institutions
of all forms of ownership.
The State provides for the development of physical
culture and sports, and ensures sanitary-epidemic
welfare.
Article 50.
Everyone has the right to an environment that
is safe for life and health, and to compensation
for damages inflicted through the violation
of this right.
Everyone is guaranteed the right of free access
to information about the environmental situation,
the quality of food and consumer goods, and
also the right to disseminate such information.
No one shall make such information secret.
Article 51.
Marriage is based on the free consent of a woman
and a man. Each of the spouses has equal rights
and duties in the marriage and family.
Parents are obliged to support their children
until they attain the age of majority. Adult
children are obliged to care for their parents
who are incapable of work.
The family, childhood, motherhood and fatherhood
are under the protection of the State.
Article 52.
Children are equal in their rights regardless
of their origin and whether they are born in
or out of wedlock.
Any violence against a child, or his or her
exploitation, shall be prosecuted by law.
The maintenance and upbringing of orphans and
children deprived of parental care is entrusted
to the State. The State encourages and supports
charitable activity in regard to children.
Article 53.
Everyone has the right to education.
Complete general secondary education is compulsory.
The State ensures accessible and free pre-school,
complete general secondary, vocational and higher
education in state and communal educational
establishments; the development of pre-school,
complete general secondary, extra-curricular,
vocational, higher and post-graduate education,
various forms of instruction; the provision
of state scholarships and privileges to pupils
and students.
Citizens have the right to obtain free higher
education in state and communal educational
establishments on a competitive basis.
Citizens who belong to national minorities are
guaranteed in accordance with the law the right
to receive instruction in their native language,
or to study their native language in state and
communal educational establishments and through
national cultural societies.
Article 54.
Citizens are guaranteed the freedom of literary,
artistic, scientific and technical creativity,
protection of intellectual property, their copyrights,
moral and material interests that arise with
regard to various types of intellectual activity.
Every citizen has the right to the results of
his or her intellectual, creative activity;
no one shall use or distribute them without
his or her consent, with the exceptions established
by law.
The State promotes the development of science
and the establishment of scientific relations
of Ukraine with the world community.
Cultural heritage is protected by law.
The State ensures the preservation of historical
monuments and other objects of cultural value,
and takes measures to return to Ukraine the
cultural treasures of the nation, that are located
beyond its borders.
Article 55.
Human and citizens' rights and freedoms are
protected by the court.
Everyone is guaranteed the right to challenge
in court the decisions, actions or omission
of bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government,
officials and officers.
Everyone has the right to appeal for the protection
of his or her rights to the Authorised Human
Rights Representative of the Verkhovna Rada
of Ukraine.
After exhausting all domestic legal remedies,
everyone has the right to appeal for the protection
of his or her rights and freedoms to the relevant
international judicial institutions or to the
relevant bodies of international organisations
of which Ukraine is a member or participant.
Everyone has the right to protect his or her
rights and freedoms from violations and illegal
encroachments by any means not prohibited by
law.
Article 56.
Everyone has the right to compensation, at the
expense of the State or bodies of local self-government,
for material and moral damages inflicted by
unlawful decisions, actions or omission of bodies
of state power, bodies of local self-government,
thei r officials and officers during the exercise
of their authority.
Article 57.
Everyone is guaranteed the right to know his
or her rights and duties.
Laws and other normative legal acts that determine
the rights and duties of citizens shall be brought
to the notice of the population by the procedure
established by law.
Laws and other normative legal acts that determine
the rights and duties of citizens, but that
are not brought to the notice of the population
by the procedure established by law, are not
in force.
Article 58.
Laws and other normative legal acts have no
retroactive force, except in cases where they
mitigate or annul the responsibility of a person.
No one shall bear responsibility for acts that,
at the time they were committed, were not deemed
by law to be an offence.
Article 59.
Everyone has the right to legal assistance.
Such assistance is provided free of charge in
cases envisaged by law. Everyone is free to
choose the defender of his or her rights.
In Ukraine, the advocacy acts to ensure the
right to a defence against accusation and to
provide legal assistance in deciding cases in
courts and other state bodies.
Article 60.
No one is obliged to execute rulings or orders
that are manifestly criminal.
For the issuance or execution of a manifestly
criminal ruling or order, legal liability arises.
Article 61.
For one and the same offence, no one shall be
brought twice to legal liability of the same
type.
The legal liability of a person is of an individual
character.
Article 62.
A person is presumed innocent of committing
a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal
punishment until his or her guilt is proved
through legal procedure and established by a
court verdict of guilty.
No one is obliged to prove his or her innocence
of committing a crime.
An accusation shall not be based on illegally
obtained evidence as well as on assumptions.
All doubts in regard to the proof of guilt of
a person are interpreted in his or her favour.
In the event that a court verdict is revoked
as unjust, the State compensates the material
and moral damages inflicted by the groundless
conviction.
Article 63.
A person shall not bear responsibility for refusing
to testify or to explain anything about himself
or herself, members of his or her family or
close relatives in the degree determined by
law.
A suspect, an accused, or a defendant has the
right to a defence.
A convicted person enjoys all human and citizens'
rights, with the exception of restrictions determined
by law and established by a court verdict.
Article 64.
Constitutional human and citizens' rights and
freedoms shall not be restricted, except in
cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
Under conditions of martial law or a state of
emergency, specific restrictions on rights and
freedoms may be established with the indication
of the period of effectiveness of these restrictions.
The rights and freedoms envisaged in Articles
24, 25, 2 7, 28, 29, 40, 47, 51, 52, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 of this Constitution
shall not be restricted.
Article 65.
Defence of the Motherland, of the independence
and territorial indivisibility of Ukraine, and
respect for its state symbols, are the duties
of citizens of Ukraine.
Citizens perform military service in accordance
with the law.
Article 66.
Everyone is obliged not to harm nature, cultural
heritage and to compensate for any damage he
or she inflicted.
Article 67.
Everyone is obliged to pay taxes and levies
in accordance with the procedure and in the
extent established by law.
All citizens annually file declarations with
the tax inspection at their place of residence,
on their property status and income for the
previous year, by the procedure established
by law.
Article 68.
Everyone is obliged to strictly abide by the
Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine,
and not to encroach upon the rights and freedoms,
honour and dignity of other persons.
Ignorance of the law shall not exempt from legal
liability.
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