Important Draft Laws. Issue 55: Notifications about Access to Your Data in State Registers, Anti-Bullying Measures, and a Ban on Nicotine Pouches and E-Cigar

If these bills are enacted, Ukrainians will automatically be notified of every request for access to their personal data in state registers. The period for holding participants in the educational process—students, teachers, scholars, and others—liable for bullying will also be extended from three months to one year. Another bill proposes returning 10% of the corporate income tax currently credited to the state budget to Kyiv. These funds would be directed toward protecting critical infrastructure and strengthening the capital’s air defense. Six of the bills registered during these two weeks regulate the circulation of tobacco-free nicotine products, including pouches and sachets. The proposals range from setting limits on nicotine content to a complete ban on their sale. Another parliamentary initiative would make a moment of silence for the fallen a daily nationwide ritual—with a straightforward procedure for its observance, public notifications through the media, and the use of civil alert systems. 

Citizens could be notified about access to their data in state registers

Bill No. 14118 would stipulate that the administrator of a state electronic register must inform an individual or business—the holder of personal data rights—that someone has viewed their personal information.

Currently, the law on public electronic registers already requires that citizens and businesses be notified of any requests for their data, as well as of any additions, changes, or deletions of that information. The law or government resolution establishing each register must define the procedure for such notifications. For example, in the Unified Register, a person who has issued a power of attorney can learn that someone has viewed their information only if they contact the registrar (administrator of the state register)—and only if that registrar has the technical capacity to respond.

The bill proposes that if anyone—another person, a government body, a bank, or a notary—accesses your data, whether through a special request or automatically via interaction between registers, the registrar must notify you within five days. The bill does not specify how such notifications would be delivered, but the government has already launched a technical solution: alerts through the Diia app. When a government agency accesses your data through the Trembita system, this is automatically recorded, and you will receive a message detailing who viewed your information, when, and for what purpose. Notifications would not be sent in cases related to criminal investigations or counterintelligence activities.

Extension of the time limit for holding educators accountable for bullying

Currently, the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provides that an administrative penalty for bullying (harassment) of participants in the educational process (Article 173-4 of the Code) may be imposed within three months from the date of the offense. If the offense is ongoing, the period is limited to three months from the moment it is detected. However, due to delays in case reviews and the heavy workload of judges, some cases—ranging from 10% to as many as one-third in different years—are closed without consideration simply because the statutory time limit has expired (see the Figure).

Bill No. 14127 provides that an administrative penalty—a fine ranging from UAH 850 to UAH 3,400, or community service from 20 to 60 hours for adult offenders or for the parents of underage offenders—for bullying (harassment) of participants in the educational process could be imposed by a court within one year from the date of the offense. For ongoing offenses, the period would be one year from the date of their detection.

Updating the translation of the Charter of Regional and Minority Languages and revising the list of languages it covers

Bill No. 14120 proposes replacing the title of the international treaty ratified by Ukraine—from European Charter for Regional Languages or Languages of Minorities to European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages—in the law approving the Charter, as well as in the laws On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine and On Media. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has updated the translation of the Charter, as the previous version required clarification. The Constitutional Court drew attention to this issue and obliged the government to “ensure consistency in the official Ukrainian translation of the Charter.”

Ukraine currently applies the Charter’s provisions to Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Hebrew, Crimean Tatar, Moldovan, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak, and Hungarian—even though the Charter’s underlying intent is to support languages that do not have a “parent” state. The bill proposes replacing this list with a new one: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Crimean Tatar, Modern Greek, German, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Hungarian, Czech, and Hebrew. In other words, Moldovan, Greek, and Russian would be removed, while Modern Greek, Czech, and Hebrew would be added. However, the list of national minority (community) and Indigenous languages of Ukraine that are considered endangered also includes several others—Rumeíka, Urum, Karaim, Krymchak, Yiddish, and Romani—which are not part of the new list, despite their official recognition as endangered or in need of support.

Returning corporate income tax contributions from the state budget to Kyiv’s city budget

Bill No. 14131 proposes removing from the current Law of Ukraine on the State Budget for 2025 the provision that temporarily (until the end of 2025) allocates all corporate income tax revenues to the general fund of the state budget. This concerns revenues, of which, under the Budget Code, 10% should go to Kyiv’s city budget. The proposed article allows the state budget to receive these revenues in full from August 1 through December 31, 2025, as an exception to the Budget Code, amounting to approximately UAH 8 billion.

The bill provides that corporate income tax revenues already transferred to the state budget from October 1, 2025, until the date the law takes effect would need to be returned to Kyiv’s city budget. These funds are intended for the protection of critical infrastructure and defense facilities, as well as for enhancing Kyiv’s air defense capabilities.

Because this bill would alter the revenue distribution between the state and municipal budgets, it would need to be accompanied by detailed financial calculations and an explanation of how the resulting losses would be compensated. Moreover, such changes cannot be introduced in the middle of a fiscal year—by law, they may take effect only at the beginning of a new budget period.

Six bills on nicotine pouches, sachets, and vapes

The Verkhovna Rada is considering six bills aimed at establishing rules for new nicotine products—pouches, sachets, and other items that contain nicotine but not tobacco and do not produce smoke. (Products containing both nicotine and tobacco are classified as tobacco products. Medicines and liquids for electronic cigarettes, or vapes, are not considered nicotine products.) The main bill, No. 14110, clarifies that “nicotine products for oral use” are nicotine products consumed through the mucous membrane of the mouth, such as pouches or sachets. This bill proposes to ban them entirely—in production, import, sale, and any circulation within Ukraine.

Alternative bills do not propose a complete ban but instead aim to legalize the circulation of nicotine pouches and other tobacco-free products by establishing uniform rules for them. Almost all require manufacturers to notify the Ministry of Health in advance—three months (Bills Nos. 14110-2, 14110-4, 14110-5) or six months (Bill No. 14110-1) before the products enter the market—and to submit information on composition, nicotine content, toxicological data, and the production process. The bills also set a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg per portion (Bill No. 14110-3 proposes 17 mg). All of them prohibit advertising, sponsorship, sales to minors, and any state support for production, and require that packaging clearly indicate product information (composition, dosage, and production date), as well as include a health warning. For example, under Bill No. 14110-3, the warning must cover at least 30% of the package surface, whereas Bill No. 14110-5 requires the label to read, “This product contains nicotine and causes addiction.”

Bill No. 14110-4 introduces a complete ban on the production, import, sale, and advertising of electronic cigarettes, liquids, and refill containers.

Proposal to make the moment of silence a daily mandatory ritual

Back in 2022, the President issued a decree introducing a daily moment of silence at 9:00 a.m. to honor the memory of all those who died as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The moment of silence is already observed, but practices vary across communities, since there are no uniform rules defining how it should be conducted or who is responsible for organizing it.

Bill No. 14144 proposes enshrining the moment of silence in law, making it part of the state’s memory policy. The bill envisions that the media would announce the moment of silence each day. At the same time, government bodies would notify the public of their start and end, including through civil defense alert systems. The government would determine how these systems should be used, and the Institute of National Memory would develop recommendations for institutions, organizations, and the public on how to observe the nationwide moment of silence.