On January 30, changes in the rules of registration of inheritance during martial law began to take effect.
Laws of Ukraine dated November 8, 2023 No. 3450-IX "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure for Opening and Registration of Inheritance" and No. 3449-IX "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure for Opening and Registration of Inheritance" were amended in terms of registration of inheritance. Innovations of inheritance, which were approved by the Verkhovna Rada on November 8, 2023, are related to the normalization of legal relations during martial law.
In general, the changes relate to Article 1221 of the Civil Code - determination of the place of opening of inheritance. Before the declared martial law, the place of opening of inheritance was defined as the place of residence of the testator at the time of death. And if this information was unknown, then it was determined as the location of the main inheritance - immovable property. According to which the place of opening of inheritance is determined by the last place of residence of the testator.
The introduced changes also provide for the following:
1) Suspension of the statute of limitations for the duration of martial law on the territory of Ukraine.
2) Establishment of special terms and features of the procedure for regulating inheritance legal relations
(terms for acceptance of inheritance are calculated from the date of state registration of the testator's death)
3) Return of the determination of the place of opening of the heritage.
( a person can submit an application to a notary in the region of the last place of residence of the deceased, even if the death occurred in the occupied territory or in areas with hostilities).
4) The place of opening of inheritance registration depends on the place of submission of the inheritance application.
(if the place of opening of the inheritance is occupied territories or areas with hostilities, notarial acts are performed at the place of submission of the first application for inheritance. If the place of submission of the first application is occupied territories or areas with hostilities, notarial acts are performed at the place of submission of the first application for extradition certificates in the settlement or on the territory subject to Ukraine).
Martial law and general mobilization were extended on February 6.
Accordingly, draft laws No. 10456 "On the approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine "On extending the period of martial law in Ukraine" and No. 10457 "On the approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine "On the extension of the period of general mobilization" determined to extend the effect of martial law and general mobilization in the country starting from February 14, 2024 to May 14, 2024 for a period of 90 days.
On February 10 , the order of the Ministry of Justice dated January 4, 2024 No. 40/5 regarding amendments to the order of the Ministry of Justice dated April 12, 2012 No. 578/5 on the List of standard documents created during the activities of state bodies and local self-government bodies, other institutions, enterprises and organizations, indicating the terms of storage of documents.
Taking into account the changes made to the terms of storage of documents regulating the entrepreneurial activity of legal entities, they are now also applied by natural persons - entrepreneurs, if it does not contradict the law or the essence of the relationship (previously it was voluntary for sole proprietorships). It is also established that the storage period for natural persons - entrepreneurs related to the calculation and payment of taxes and fees is 3 years according to the Tax Code.
In addition, the terms of storage of certain documents related to financial and economic activities have changed, in particular, their term has been increased from 1 or 3 years to 5.
Among such documents, the following are defined:
· documents related to the subject of a tax audit, inspection (audit) of a state financial control body and/or an administrative or judicial appeal of a decision made based on its (his) results shall be kept for no less than the established minimum period and within one year after the expiration of the statutory period for a judicial appeal of such a decision, and in the event of such an appeal - within one year from the date of entry into legal force of the court decision, which ended the proceedings, and in the event of an appeal of such a court decision - within three months from the date of entry into legal force of the final court decision, the further appeal of which impossible;
· documents for which the minimum storage period has expired, relating to reporting periods for which tax audits, inspections (audits) can no longer be carried out, are subject to destruction (except for those that can be used to document the process of compensation for material damage caused as a result of armed aggression Russian Federation and temporary occupation);
· documents and information subject to the requirements of Art. 39 and 392 PCs, stored for at least 7 years.
On February 21, registration in the Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System (hereinafter referred to as UJITS) became mandatory for all participants in court proceedings.
In accordance with the adopted Law No. 3200-IX "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Mandatory Registration and Use of Electronic Cabinets in the Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System (hereinafter - UJITS) or its separate subsystem (module) that ensures the exchange of documents" from 07/21/2023, it is indicated that in 7 months from the publication of this law, the obligation to register an electronic cabinet will be implemented in administrative and civil processes. Thus, in order to send documents through UJITS to other participants in administrative and civil proceedings, legal entities need to register an electronic office in this system.
Among the consequences for not registering a participant in the legal process in the UJITS electronic office, in this case, the court will leave the documents of such a person inactive or return them without consideration (depending on the type of procedural document).
In order to become a user of the electronic court and register in the UJITS office you need to go to the link https://id.court.gov.ua/. You can view the registration instructions at this link.
On February 22, draft law No. 9266 on electronic agricultural receipts was adopted .
In contrast to the law on agricultural receipts dated November 6, 2012, which, by the way, will not cease to operate after the new law enters into force, will introduce a new financial instrument for crediting agricultural production.
The electronic agricultural receipt is a document that confirms the obligations between the persons participating in the agreement. It can be used to make deals, exchange and profit. The draft law provides that electronic agricultural receipts will exist in the form of electronic documents in a special register. Debtors and creditors will have the opportunity to independently make changes to the electronic agricultural receipt using their electronic signature.
Among the main innovations specified in this draft law, the following can be singled out :
· The draft law expands the list of persons who can issue electronic agricultural receipts, compared to traditional paper agricultural receipts, at the expense of agricultural service cooperatives. This applies to members of cooperatives who own agricultural plots of land or have the right to use such plots, subject to the notarized consent of such cooperative member to the issuance of an electronic agricultural receipt.
· The draft law offers an updated list of requisites for electronic financial agricultural receipts and for electronic commodity agricultural receipts. Electronic agricultural receipts contain a group of requisites that become enforceable from the day the receipt is not executed. This is caused by the specifics of their content and the specifics of the established obligations. The details turn the electronic agricultural receipt into an executive document, presented by a special extract from the Register of electronic agricultural receipts, presented by an extract from the Register of electronic agricultural receipts. The statement can be formed for the entire amount of claims under the receipt or separately for the collection of debt, penalties or the amount of costs for the completion of cultivation / harvesting / production / maintenance / storage / transportation of the subject of pledge, provided for in the receipt.
· The electronic agricultural receipt ensures the fulfillment of the debtor's obligations by pledging his future harvest. The subject of the pledge can be only the future harvest of agricultural products. The draft law also provides for the possibility of pledging live animals, products of animal and plant origin to protect the rights of creditors.
· The draft law establishes important conditions for the fulfillment of obligations by the parties, providing for the creditor's right to collect the debt in case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of a part of the obligation specified in the electronic agricultural receipt, by issuing a new executive document - a special extract from the Register of electronic agricultural receipts and sufficient confirmation indisputability Thus, the draft law creates the necessary legal basis for issuing multi-year receipts, which will be implemented in parts over several marketing periods.
· Electronic agricultural receipts and related rights are recorded in the securities depository accounting system. The circulation of electronic agricultural receipts takes place only in the depository system of Ukraine. After the adoption of the draft law as a whole, electronic agricultural receipts will circulate on the unorganized capital market, as well as on the organized capital market, such as the regulated market or the BTM multilateral trading platform.
· The draft law takes into account various methods of termination of obligations , such as transfer of the assignee, enrollment, debt forgiveness, unification of the debtor and the creditor in one person, and others. This makes electronic agricultural receipts more convenient and flexible financial instruments compared to traditional paper agricultural receipts. In addition, the draft law provides that a penalty (fine, penalty) is included in a special extract from the Register of electronic agricultural receipts, if such sanctions are provided for in the electronic agricultural receipt.
This law will enter into force in full six months after its publication.
On February 23, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 10337 "On honest lobbying and advocacy in Ukraine."
The law establishes, within the framework of international standards, the provision of legal bases for lobbying in Ukraine, the regulation of the interaction of officials of state and local authorities with interested parties and lobbying subjects, as well as the creation of transparent mechanisms for monitoring their activities.
The law clearly defines the main principles on which lobbying should be based, namely legality, transparency, accountability, responsibility, professionalism and ethics. That is, the very process of lobbying with respect for integrity, as stated in the title of the law, must be manifested in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine and other laws, with the non-application of illegal interference (in particular, by means of deception, bribery, threats, coercion) in the exercise of the powers of state authorities, local authorities self-government, legal entities under public law. Therefore, taking into account all the above-mentioned principles, lobbying should take place with the implementation of the highest professional standards in lobbying, avoiding the creation of any dependence between lobbyists and officials.
The law also defines the status of a lobbyist as a subject of lobbying, which must be registered in the Transparency Register, the so-called " Register of Lobbyists " . A lobbying entity that wishes to acquire this legal status must go through the authorization procedure by being included in the Transparency Register. The purpose of this register is to provide free public access to reliable and up-to-date information about lobbying entities and their reporting. The register is controlled by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), which provides access to it through its website.
You can read more about the law in our previous article, news for January 2024, at the link:https://lmfgr.com/tpost/v48p7ms221-zmni-v-zakonodavstv-za-schen-2024r-pd-ch.
This law will enter into force two months after the creation of the Transparency Register from the NAKC, but no later than January 1, 2025.
In addition, draft law No. 10373 regarding offenses committed in the sphere of lobbying by the subjects of the offense (individuals or managers of legal entities) was adopted as a basis for the main law, in particular:
· lobbying without registration in the special Register of "lobbyists" (transparency) is punishable as an administrative offense in the amount of 50 to 100 tax-free minimums (from 850 to 1,700 hryvnias) ;
· lobbying by a person who has already been fined for such offenses within a year is punishable by a fine in the amount of 500 to 1,000 tax-free minimums (from 8,500 to 17,000 hryvnias);
· submitting false information to the Transparency Register entails the imposition of a fine in the amount of 100 to 300 non-taxable minimums (from 1,700 to 5,100 hryvnias). (Unreliable information means information that differs from reliable information by the amount of 50 to 100 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons, i.e. from 151,400 to 302,800 hryvnias);
· repeated offenses entail the imposition of a fine in the amount of 300 to 400 tax-free minimums (from 5,100 to 6,800 hryvnias) with a ban on future lobbying activities for one year;
· failure to submit or untimely submission of an application to the NAPC to stop lobbying due to the incompatibility of representation as a lobbyist is punishable by a fine in the amount of 100 to 300 tax-free minimums (from 1,700 to 5,100 hryvnias);
· carrying out lobbying in the interests of a person who cannot be a beneficiary in accordance with the requirements of the law on lobbying or concluding a contract for the provision of lobbying services with a person who cannot be a client in accordance with the requirements of the law on lobbying is punished by imposing a fine in the amount of 1,000 to 2,000 tax-free minimums (from 17,000 to 34,000 hryvnias) with a ban on future lobbying activities for one year;
· taking actions or making decisions in conditions of conflict of interests during lobbying entails the imposition of a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens (from 5100 to 8500 hryvnias);
· lobbying by a person who has already been fined for such offenses within a year is punishable by a fine in the amount of 500 to 1,000 untaxed minimum income of citizens (from 8,500 to 17,000 hryvnias);
The law on administrative offenses in the field of lobbying enters into force at the same time as the law on honest lobbying, but not earlier than the day of its official publication, and comes into force one year after its entry into force.
On February 26, Law No. 3563-IX on simplifying the procedure for changing the purpose of land plots was adopted .
· The law is aimed at simplifying the procedure for establishing and changing the purpose of land plots outside settlements for the placement of industrial and warehouse buildings, non-residential agricultural buildings, pipelines, lines of electronic communication networks and power transmission, as well as complex structures of industrial facilities.
· During martial law and for five years after its end, it will be allowed to establish or change the purpose of plots without urban planning documentation at the local level and without observing the rules of the relationship between the type of purpose of the land plot and the type of functional purpose of the territory, as established by the urban planning documentation.
· Establishing or changing the intended use will be carried out at the decision of the owner of the land plot by submitting an application to enter information about the intended purpose of the land plot to the State Land Cadastre in the presence of a reasoned opinion from the town planning authority. This will not require the development and approval of land management documentation. It is important that the legislator defines the conclusion of the urban planning body as a special type of urban planning conditions and restrictions, which will give an opportunity to immediately start designing the construction object.
· The law also expands opportunities for the construction of river ports (terminals). Now it will be possible to change the intended use of land plots without restrictions if they are located in landscape and recreational areas defined by urban planning documents at the local level. Previously, this possibility was available only for river ports (terminals), the location of which was approved by the State Service of Sea and River Transport of Ukraine.
· During the period of martial law and for six months after its termination, the Law aims to expand the list of sources from which funds can be raised to finance the development of detailed plans of territories (hereinafter referred to as DPT). This is possible provided that such sources of financing do not conflict with the legislation, the DPT provides for the placement of energy enterprises engaged in the production of electricity from alternative sources, transmission and distribution of electricity, or combined production of electricity and thermal energy, as well as the technological infrastructure of energy facilities. Local self-government bodies will be the customers of such DPT. At the same time, DPT should not provide for new construction or reconstruction of residential real estate and public purpose objects.
