On September 23, 2024, Law No. 3894-IX, which bans the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and affiliated religious organizations in Ukraine, entered into force. The main target of the law is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate).
The law hands the government a legal tool to ban religious organizations considered Moscow’s accomplices in Ukraine. Critics of the law claim that it does not meet international standards of freedom of religion and significantly expands the government’s powers to control religious communities, Christians Against War reports, citing Forum 18, a Norwegian organization that aims to promote religious freedom.
Forum 18 notes that the law defines the criteria for affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church, which experts consider problematic and burdensome for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP). First, the membership criteria do not require the government to provide evidence of illegal operations by the UOC (MP) as a whole or by its parishes. The fact of any form of ecclesiastical or documentary connection with the Russian Orthodox Church – the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC) – is sufficient for the UOC (MP) and its related structures to be banned, even if they as actors did not commit crimes.
The law also prohibits the ideology of the “Russian world”, although its definition remains too vague.
The procedure for the liquidation of religious organizations under the law is simplified, which raises concerns about possible abuse. Critics believe it legitimizes large-scale and rapid deprivation of the UOC (MP) of its legal status without evidence of institutional involvement in crimes.
Legislation strengthens the role of the government in interreligious relations and expands the powers of government bodies to control religious communities.
After the law was adopted, cases of pressure on communities and believers of the UOC (MP) have been recorded.
While addressing real threats to national security is a legitimate government concern, critics say the law does nothing to solve those problems and may even make the situation worse.
Forum 18 notes that the criminal cases brought by the SBU against clergymen of the UOC (MP) and a much larger number of cases against individuals not affiliated with the UOC (MP) show that the government is already effectively using the existing Criminal Code of Ukraine to prosecute enemy accomplices.
