The Committee on Legal Policy has reconsidered Draft Law No. 11533 “On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Specifics of Providing Information from Public Electronic Registers Maintained by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and Certain Other Public Electronic Registers” and adopted a decision to recommend that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, based on the results of the first reading, adopt the above-mentioned draft law as a basis and as a whole in the version proposed by the Committee.
The document proposes amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine and a number of Ukrainian laws, in particular:
- the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Property Rights to Immovable Property and Their Encumbrances”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Associations”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Rights to Inventions and Utility Models”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Rights to Industrial Designs”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Rights to Trademarks for Goods and Services”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Rights to Layout Designs of Semiconductor Products”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On Public Electronic Registers”,
- the Law of Ukraine “On Copyright and Related Rights”.
which restricts access of individuals and legal entities to information from electronic registers regarding defense enterprises during the period of martial law in Ukraine, introduced by the Presidential Decree No. 64/2022 dated February 24, 2022 “On the Introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine”, and for one year after its termination or cancellation.
According to the authors of the draft law, the implementation of the proposed amendments will contribute to enhancing the security of defense enterprises by limiting the possibility of free and unrestricted access to registry data about defense companies, their types of activities, locations, as well as temporarily restricting access to the location of real estate owned by such enterprises and to data on intellectual property objects related to national security and defense. The goal is to preserve the integrity of such registers while imposing minimal access restrictions for individuals and legal entities.
However, it is important not to overlook the significance and impact of open data, which includes information from public registers. This concerns journalistic investigations, public oversight of politicians, and various projects that rely on public registry data (in particular, the URBANDATA project).
Given that, for example, information in the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction (USESFC) concerning defense enterprises and others connected directly or indirectly to the military and defense sectors is non-public (i.e., closed), a temporary restriction on access to similar data in state registers appears entirely justified in my opinion.
What is essential, however, is that access to the entire body or a substantial portion of registry data — especially from the State Register of Real Property Rights and the State Land Cadastre — is not “accidentally” restricted.
The closure of public registers not only creates challenges for citizens but also opens up vast opportunities for corruption. That is why any restrictions must be clearly defined and legally justified.
In my view, draft law No. 11533 is likely to be adopted, but the final version of the document will partly depend on public engagement and advocacy.
The referenced decision of the Supreme Court can be discussed in the group Urban Planning in Ukraine.
Ⓒ 2025