The ongoing war in Ukraine prompts the regulation of many spheres of life and the introduction of control measures taking into account the realities of today. The activity of the state regarding the collection, processing and use of biometric data of citizens of Ukraine, stateless persons and foreigners temporarily staying on the territory of Ukraine was no exception.
To this end, in October 2022, a draft Law of Ukraine "Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Regulation of Identification and Verification of Ukrainian Citizens, Foreigners and Stateless Persons" (hereinafter referred to as the draft Law) was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. The given draft of the Law, in particular, proposes to oblige persons who have reached the age of twelve to submit digitized fingerprints (the draft of amendments to Part 7 of Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Unified State Demographic Register and documents confirming the citizenship of Ukraine, certifying the identity or its special status"). Although it is not entirely clear from the content of the draft Law, to whom and in what period digitized fingerprints should be submitted.
However, the introduction of this duty is controversial. Currently, the current legislation provides for the possibility of taking fingerprints from a minor child (this is considered a child of 14 years) in a voluntary manner or in the case of issuing documents, for example, a document for traveling abroad.
In turn, the introduction of a certain obligation to perform an action presupposes the presence of responsibility for its non-performance. And in this, difficulties may arise in relation to a minor child, because only for the commission of some criminal crimes, responsibility arises from the age of 14. How the legislators plan to implement the compulsion to submit biometric data in relation to a minor child (from 12 to 14 years old) is currently unclear.
One of the important components of successful protection of clients' interests is the legal qualification of the legal relationship. Dynasty Law & Investment lawyers have extensive experience in supporting cases in Ukrainian courts of all levels, as well as in legal support of business processes - from negotiations to project implementation, and are ready to defend the client at any stage.
Oleksandr Bragin, attorney at Dynasty Law & Investment
