Rada imposed martial law: 30-day period in certain regions
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has given the green light to a presidential decree on the introduction of martial law in Ukraine. The decision was backed by 276 lawmakers. Martial law will be introduced for a 30-day period, from 9:00 on November 28, 2018, to 9:00 on December 27, 2018.
It will be effective in certain areas bordering Russia and unrecognized Transnistria. President Petro Poroshenko listed them: these are Vinnytsia region, Luhansk region, Mykolaiv region, Odesa region, Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Chernihiv region, Kherson region, and the inland waters of the Azov-Kerch water area. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy also added two more regions – Donetsk region and Zaporizhia region – to the list mentioned by the president.
Parubiy noted that it had been agreed during the consultations that martial law would be introduced for a period of 30 days instead of 60, and also the decree on martial law indicated that the presidential election would take place on March 31, 2019. Martial law is a special legal regime providing for the granting of special powers to state authorities necessary to prevent a threat. This is about a temporary restriction of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as temporary restriction of the legitimate interests of legal entities.
During the martial law regime, military and civilian authorities are given wider powers that allow them to use human and material resources for their needs.
The "authorities" means the entire military command
– from the General Staff to the leadership of individual units, as well as the entire vertical of power
– from the president and the Cabinet of Ministers to village councils. The decisions can be made both at the central and at the local levels. What does martial law in Ukraine mean? The law allows to: - Introduce labor service for the sake of defenses, elimination of natural and man-made emergencies, and socially useful work.
- Use the capacity and labor resources of enterprises and organizations of all forms of ownership for the sake of defenses, change their mode of operation and working conditions.
- Withdraw for temporary use the required property of ministries, central and local executive authorities, territorial communities, enterprises and citizens, including vehicles, structures, cars, machinery, equipment and other facilities related to the maintenance of transport, issuing documents of the established sample.
- Set up protection of important objects of the national economy of Ukraine;
- Introduce a curfew and establish a special blackout mode;
- Establish a special mode of border crossing, restrict the freedom of movement of citizens, foreigners and stateless persons, as well as traffic;
- Check IDs of citizens, and if necessary, inspect belongings, vehicles, luggage and cargo, office space and citizens' homes;
- Raise the issue of banning political parties, public organizations if they threaten the sovereignty, national security of Ukraine, its independence and territorial integrity, as well as the lives of citizens;
Source: UNIAN