Select aspects of legislative reform in the field of social protection for war veterans

Abstract

Problem setting. Social protection for war veterans requires specific legislative regulation that takes into account the actual needs of war veterans. There is also a need for effective legal regulation of social protection for the family members of war veterans. To modernise legislation in this area, a draft Code of Ukraine ‘On the Protection of Statehood, Independence and the Status of Defenders of the State’ has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; its content is highly controversial. Analyses of recent researches and publications. The issue of improving legislation in the field of social security is the subject of research by academics from various fields of law. Kononenko S. V. emphasises that the creation of a comprehensive and flexible system of psychological support for veterans must be a state priority to ensure their successful return to civilian life. Kuchma O. L. points to the need to update legislation regarding the legal status of children conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (particularly following the death of one parent) to ensure their right to a pension in the event of the loss of a breadwinner. Kuchma O. L. and Sinova L. M. examine the issue of surrogacy as a means of fulfilling the demographic function of social security law. Moskalenko K. V. emphasised the need to improve legislation regarding the legal status of parties to legal relationships concerning artificial insemination. Trunova H. emphasises the need to modernise legislation in the field of social protection for war veterans. Baldyniuk O. D and Matros O. O. examined ways of improving the social and legal situation for veterans and their families. The purpose of this article is to examine problematic issues of social protection of war veterans that have not found a proper settlement in the current legislation and the draft Code and to propose their solution. Article’s main body. This article examines several problematic issues which, unfortunately, have not been resolved either in the current legislation on social protection for war veterans or in the draft Code. In particular, attention is drawn to the inconsistency between the title of the draft Code and its purpose and content; it is also proposed to refine the definition of the term ‘support’, using terminology analogous to the definition of the term ‘war veteran support specialist’. Attention is drawn to the inconsistencies between Ukrainian legislation and Ukrainian case law, and international law, regarding the determination of the legal status of a child born after the death of a war veteran. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The paper proposes that legislation governing the social protection of war veterans should be amended to include, among the family members of a war veteran, children born after the veteran’s death, without any time limit on when the child was born following the veteran’s death. It is also proposed to replace the benefit for the installation of a landline telephone with a benefit for mobile phone and internet services.