In connection with the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine dated 08/20/24 No. 3894-IX "On the Protection of the Constitutional order in the sphere of activity of religious organizations", the Legal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate informs that this legislative act grossly contradicts the norms and principles of international law.
First of all, Law No. 3894-IX introduces an extrajudicial procedure for imposing a ban on the activities of a religious organization. Such a ban has already been imposed by the deputy corps on the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (Article 3 of the law). Thus, the Verkhovna Rada, without a legitimate judicial procedure involving transparency, collection and examination of evidence, participation and competitiveness of the parties in the trial, decided to ban the activities of the largest Christian denomination, declaring it "an ideological continuation of the regime of the aggressor state, complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity" (paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the law). This unprecedented norm, which humiliates the dignity of millions of believers, has no analogues either in international law or in foreign legislation.
It is important to note that banning the activities of a legal entity is an extreme measure of intervention, which in a democratic society is preceded by warnings, fines and other administrative penalties. All these measures of influence were grossly ignored by the Ukrainian legislator, who chose an extreme form of interference in the life of religious communities.
Law No. 3894-IX contradicts Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, according to which religious organizations are separated from the state. This constitutional principle implies a ban on state interference in the activities of religious associations, as stated in Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine dated April 23, 1991 No. 987-XII "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations".
The principle of "non-interference" means, first of all, the autonomy of religious organizations in determining their own hierarchical structure, appointing (electing) governing bodies. The norms of international law explicitly and unambiguously enshrine this right of religious organizations. However, this right is grossly violated by Law No. 3894-IX, which, under threat of liquidation, forces the UOC to change its own hierarchical structure on formal grounds of "affiliation" with the Russian Orthodox Church. Moreover, section II of the new law introduces a shameful procedure for public oral or written statements by the leaders of religious communities about the rejection of the primordial hierarchical affiliation fixed by church canons.
Law No. 3894-IX supplements the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine with a norm according to which, in the event of liquidation of a religious organization affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, the property belonging to it by right of ownership is transferred to the state. At the same time, Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Lease of State and Communal Property" was supplemented by a norm obliging state bodies to prematurely terminate free use or lease agreements with religious organizations that have signs of affiliation with the Russian Church. In fact, the new law provides for the nationalization of the property of religious organizations of the UOC in case of their refusal to change their hierarchical affiliation.
The norms of Law No. 3894-IX are comparable to the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of 02/05/1918 "On the separation of Church from State and School from Church", which deprived religious associations of the rights of a legal entity and declared their property "national property". The adoption of the Decree, which grossly violates the rights of believers, led to a bloodbath caused by the forced closure of churches, their transfer to renovationists, and the seizure of church property. It is precisely to such consequences that Law No. 3894-IX can lead.
It should also be noted that the grounds for the liquidation of religious organizations provided for by this law do not stand up to criticism. Russian Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, according to Article 5 of the law, a religious organization is subject to liquidation in case of propaganda of the ideology of the "Russian world", which, in turn, is defined by the new law as the "Russian neocolonial doctrine", which aims, among other things, "to spread the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church beyond the territory of the Russian Federation." In fact, the legislator considers the dissemination of religious beliefs as a basis for the liquidation of a religious community.
The implementation of the provisions of Law No. 3894-IX is mainly entrusted to the State executive authority implementing State policy in the field of religion. This body, by virtue of the provisions of the new law, not only recognizes a religious organization affiliated with the Russian Church, but also coordinates the "relations, communications and communications" of the religious communities of Ukraine with the Moscow Patriarchate. Thus, a vestige of the Soviet era has been revived on the territory of Ukraine – a special state agency for religious affairs, which, during the time of godlessness and persecution of the Church, coordinated the appointment of bishops to the pulpits, censored church publications, regulated the life of churches up to the issuance of permits for bell ringing. The revival of such a state body is evidence of the degradation of Ukrainian legislation on freedom of conscience.
In general, by outlawing the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian authorities come into direct conflict with its entirety, forgetting that it is impossible to ban the activities of the Church as a denomination, since its status is determined primarily by Divine institutions, and secondarily by state legislation.