A new article on violence against children may appear in the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses: for repeated violations — deduction of 20% of earnings

A draft law No. 15419 has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, which aims to strengthen the protection of children from bullying and other forms of violence and to eliminate gaps in the legislation through which offenders often avoid responsibility, leaving children without proper legal protection.

Bullying is quite common not only in Ukraine but worldwide. According to sociological studies, 8 out of 10 children in Ukraine face bullying. Moreover, some surveyed children admitted that they suffer from abuse not only from fellow students but also from teachers.

Bullying is systematic, intentional aggressive harassment, intimidation, and psychological or physical violence directed at one person by another individual or group. The main difference from an ordinary conflict is the imbalance of power (the victim finds it difficult to defend themselves) and the regularity of actions.

Current punishment for bullying

According to the current Article 38 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (CUAO), administrative penalties in cases considered by courts may be imposed no later than three months from the date of the offense. Cases of bullying involving participants in the educational process are specific: they require lengthy evidence collection, psychological and pedagogical examinations, and interviewing minors in the presence of parents or psychologists. Courts often fail to meet the three-month deadline (especially considering vacation periods), resulting in cases being closed due to expiration of terms, and offenders avoiding responsibility.

Current legislation also provides liability for domestic violence (Article 173-2) and bullying in educational institutions (Article 173-4). However, if a child becomes a victim of cruel treatment, psychological pressure, or economic restriction by a coach in a private section, a club leader, neighbors, or strangers in public spaces, and these actions do not have signs of a criminal offense, it is impossible to hold the perpetrators accountable under a special article.

What they want to change

The authors of the draft law propose to increase the period for imposing administrative penalties for bullying, as provided by Article 173-4 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, from three months to one year from the date of the offense.

This aligns with the terms already established for other socially dangerous offenses (for example, related to corruption or violation of safety rules).

Additionally, the draft law proposes to supplement the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses with a new Article 173-9 "Committing violence and cruel treatment towards a child."

The new article provides the following:

Committing physical, psychological, or economic violence, as well as cruel treatment towards a child aimed at humiliating their dignity, causing psychological or physical suffering that did not cause bodily injuries and do not fall under signs of bullying or domestic violence —

entails a fine from one hundred to two hundred non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or community service for a period of twenty to forty hours.

The same actions committed by a person who was subjected to administrative penalties under the first part of this article within a year, or committed by a group of persons, —

entail a fine from two hundred to four hundred non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or community service for a period of forty to sixty hours, or corrective labor for a period of one to two months with a deduction of twenty percent of earnings, or administrative arrest for up to fifteen days.

The draft law also proposes to assign the consideration of cases under the new article to the jurisdiction of district, district in cities, city, and city-district courts, and to grant the National Police the right to draw up the relevant protocols.

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