Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

64 The Department of external relations has made a great contribution to the approval in first reading of a law on "On Military Chaplaincy" in the version (Reg. No. 10244-1 of 23.04.2019). The law will serve as a basis for other types of chaplaincy related legis- lation in the future (medical, penitentiary chaplaincy, etc). The law establishes the capability of state funding for chaplains’ activities and greatly enhances social care of military chaplains equal to that of military personnel. The Department of external relations has been involved in the regional policy reform (decentralization) which transfers administrative and financial powers from the central government to local governments exercising their power in newly formed United Ter- ritorial Communities (UTCs). In our opinion, this reform fits very well into the Catholic teaching on subsidiarity. Thanks to the joint efforts of religious communities, a special agreement was reached on the possibility of photographing documents in religious clothing legalized in the new law which was approved by the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Church involvement in the development of c i v i l soc iety in Ukraine The process of further cooperation with the Ministry of Justice on the improvement of pasto- ral care in prisons has been ongoing. A working group to work on the "Regulation on Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care Measures in Prison Facilities in Ukraine" was established which also included our experts. It is planned to unify a procedure for visiting prisoners by chaplains and volunteers in pre-trial detention facilities and organizing and developing interaction and the coordination of activities of pastoral support of the prison staff. Our experts actively participated in the revision of the draft Law of Ukraine "On Labor" (No. 2708) together with alternative projects that are prepared for the first reading with the removal of the concepts of "gender", "gender identity", "sexual orientation". Each of the projects provides for specific exceptions to the anti-discrimination provisions in the field of labor rela- tions which are designed to take into account the particularity of religious organizations. The downside, however, is that these exceptions do not take into account the differences, exceptions or advantages, as well as cases of restriction of workers’ rights, provided for by the internal guidelines of religious organizations. The Department staff conducted three round table discussions with leading Ukrainian news agen- cies . "Building trust to the government insti- tutions: ideal electoral process" was the first topic of the round table (Dec. 8, 2018). The religious organizations had an opportuni- ty to present their view on a transparent and just election system. The document of the UGCC Synod of Bishops on just elections was presented. A special role of Churches and religious organizations on the issue of just elections was dis- cussed.