On August 4, a bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine No. 13597, “On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine Regarding the Fight Against Discrimination,” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, with the aim of strengthening liability for acts of discrimination.

The most attention is being drawn to the amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of Preventing and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine” regarding the revision of basic terms—in particular, the definitions of discrimination and intolerance.

NEW DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION: “a situation in which a person and/or a group of persons, on the basis of their race, skin color, political, religious, or other beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, health status, ethnic, national, and social origin, citizenship, marital and property status, place of residence, language, or other characteristics that have been, are, or may be, actual or presumed (hereinafter referred to as “certain characteristics”), is subject to restrictions on the recognition, exercise, or enjoyment of rights and freedoms in anyform established by this Law, compared to other individuals and/or groups of individuals, except in cases where such a restriction has a legitimate, objectively justified purpose, the means of achieving which are appropriate and necessary.”

Article 1 of the Law “On the Principles of Preventing and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine” provides for a change in the definition of the term “discrimination” and the addition of a new term, “intolerance”—“an open, prejudiced, negative attitude toward a person and/or group of persons who differ in such characteristics as race, skin color, political, religious, and other beliefs, gender, age, disability, health status, ethnic, national, and social origin, citizenship, marital and property status, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of residence, language, or other characteristics.”

It is worth noting the potential legal conflicts that may arise in connection with the proposed changes, in particular—conflicts with constitutional and family law.

Recognizing “gender identity” as a protected characteristic contradicts the fact that the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 51) explicitly defines marriage as a union between a woman and a man. Thus, current law does not recognize same-sex marriages, and neither the Civil Code nor the Family Code uses the concept of “gender identity.” If the law enshrines “gender identity” as a protected characteristic, but the state does not recognize same-sex marriages, then the very fact of the legislative refusal to register a same-sex marriage could be interpreted in the future as “discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

In addition, the issue of amending official documents may become equally contentious. In light of the proposed definition of discrimination, be considered discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” if the state refuses to comply with a person’s request to include in their passport or birth certificate an indication of the gender with which they identify, but which does not correspond to their biological sex? Under the new wording, such a refusal could be regarded as a restriction on the exercise of rights, creating a risk of legal conflicts with existing provisions of national legislation.

Another risk posed by the bill in its proposed form is the use of “language” as a basis for “intolerance” or “discrimination.”

The issue of language as a basis for manifestations of intolerance and discrimination requires special attention. In the proposed amendments to the legislation, “language” is explicitly defined as one of the characteristics that may give rise not only to “intolerance” but also to “discrimination.” This means that any restriction of an individual’s rights based on language, in particular requirements regarding the use of the state language, may be regarded as discriminatory actions in certain situations. It is worth noting that the current Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language” imposes an obligation on the state and business entities to ensure services, communication, and education in the state language. At the same time, without a clear provision in the new draft law prioritizing the provisions of the special language law, the new provisions could serve as a basis for lawsuits filed by representatives of national minorities or the Russian-speaking population.

In cases where organizations or individual employees refuse to serve a customer in a language other than Ukrainian, such behavior, although justified by the language law, could be interpreted as discrimination or a manifestation of intolerance, thereby jeopardizing legal certainty. Thus, including language in the list of grounds on which discrimination and intolerance are prohibited is inconsistent with the state’s language protection policy and creates a potential legal conflict between the requirements to ensure the state language and the freedoms of representatives of other language groups.

Overall, the proposed definitions of “discrimination” and “intolerance” represent a step toward European human rights standards. However, without clear limitations (for example, defining the boundaries between permissible restrictions—such as service in the state language—and discriminatory actions), legal safeguards, and harmonization with other areas of legislation, they may become a source of legal uncertainty, be exploited for manipulation, and provoke conflicts between national identity and international human rights trends.