Weekly analysis for 04 — 10 August

The President Signs Law Granting Prosecutors Powers Deemed Unconstitutional Four Years After Its Adoption

Event 

On 4 August 2026, the President of Ukraine signed Law № 2541-IX amending certain legislative acts of Ukraine to delineate the functions of public authorities and local self-government bodies in the protection of children’s rights following the establishment of the State Service of Ukraine for Children. The Law was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on 30 August 2022.

Among other provisions, the Law introduces mandatory participation of prosecutors in cases concerning the deprivation of parental rights, the removal of a child from parental care, and adoption proceedings (by amending the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine).

CPLR’s assessment

The legislative history of this Law — from its adoption, signing and to its entry into force — provides yet another vivid example of non-compliance with Article 94 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which requires the President to either sign a law or return it to Parliament with veto proposals within 15 days of receiving it.

In our view, the application of this Law is likely to create significant legal uncertainty across millions of proceedings involving children, including administrative, civil, disciplinary, and other types of cases conducted over the past nearly four years. This is because the Law provides that it entered into force on 1 January 2023 (!). 

The Law also raises serious constitutional concerns by introducing mandatory participation of prosecutors in new categories of civil cases violates paragraph 3 of part 1 of Article 131-1 of the Constitution of Ukraine which permits prosecutorial representation of the interests of the state in court only in exceptional cases. The Prosecutor’s Office was deprived of the authority to represent the interests of individuals in courts ten years ago, pursuant to the constitutional amendments adopted in 2016. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has also repeatedly directed the legislator to limit the powers of the Prosecutor’s Office (for example, Decision № 6-r(II)/2025 of 3 December 2025). 

The absence of such powers in the Prosecutor’s Office does not leave children without state assistance or protection. Ukraine has already established a comprehensive free legal aid system that ensures children’s access to state-funded legal representation. The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and his representatives are actively engaged in this area. Within the executive branch, child protection functions are carried out by the State Service for Children, the National Social Service, and the Ministry of Social Policy.

Requiring prosecutors to participate in all civil cases concerning the deprivation of parental rights, removal of a child from parental care, and adoption would either divert a significant number of prosecutors from criminal proceedings (which remain no less important to society) to civil proceedings or require a disproportionate increase in the staffing of the prosecution service to perform functions that may later be found unconstitutional.

At the same time, the legislator’s logic behind this approach is unclear: while the Law removes the participation of jurors from adoption proceedings, thereby eliminating an element of public oversight, it simultaneously introduces mandatory participation of prosecutors.

The absence of transitional provisions in the Law also leaves unresolved the issue of how its new provisions — including those concerning the participation of prosecutors and jurors — should apply to ongoing proceedings initiated but not completed before the Law entered into force. It remains unclear whether such proceedings should be recommenced under the new rules or continue under the procedure that was in force at the time of their initiation. Leaving these questions to the judicial discretion creates a risk of prolonged legal uncertainty until the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court of Ukraine provides authoritative clarification.

The European Union Approves New Rule of Law Commitments for Ukraine

Event

The Council of the European Union has approved amendments to the Ukraine Facility Plan, the key framework governing EU financial assistance to Ukraine for 2024–2027. The amendments revise the content and implementation deadlines of 35 existing reform commitments and introduce 26 new ones. Many of the newly added measures relate to the rule of law, anti-corruption policy, and justice sector reform.

The need to amend the Ukraine Facility Plan arises from the conclusion and ratification of the Agreement of 27 May 2026 on a Loan to Support Ukraine between the European Union and Ukraine, concerning cooperation on the establishment of a loan for Ukraine. Under this agreement, part of the EU’s macro-financial assistance is linked to the implementation of specific reform commitments by Ukraine, further reinforcing the principle of “money in exchange for reforms”.

CPLR’s assessment 

The new measures set out under the Ukraine Facility Plan are the following:

– adoption of the law extending the involvement of international experts in the Competition Commission responsible for selecting members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (Draft Law № 13382);

– adoption of the law aimed at improving the consideration of civil and administrative cases by the High Anti-Corruption Court (Draft Law №  14033);

– amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of criminal proceedings;

– adoption of amendments to the Law on the State Bureau of Investigation;

– adoption of amendments to the Law on the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine;

– ensuring access of pre-trial investigation bodies to high-quality forensic expertise;

– launch of operations of the new specialised administrative courts;

– approval by the Government of the State Anti-Corruption Programme for 2026–2030;

– approval by the Government of a Roadmap for lifting of moratoria on the enforcement of court decisions; 

– approval by the Government of a Financial Investigations Strategy.

All of these commitments are scheduled to be fulfilled by the end of 2026.

The estimated financial value of these reforms amounts to EUR 124 million (approximately UAH 6.5 billion) in budgetary support.

All of these measures are reflected in a number of strategic documents, including the Rule of Law Roadmap, the interim benchmarks for Ukraine’s EU accession, and the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Reforming Law Enforcement Bodies as Part of the Security and Defence Sector of Ukraine. However, the specific list of measures and their implementation deadlines indicate that most of these commitments are linked to the implementation of the Joint Statement released on 11 December 2025 by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.