You're reading: Experts: Law on biometric passports does not meet European standards

Experts believe that the law on a unified state demographic register and identity documents will have to be changed, because it does not meet European standards of human rights protection. 

“The law establishes certain legislative acts for the production of biometric passports for travel abroad, but at the same time, it violates the previously undertaken obligations in the sphere of the protection of personal data,” Scientific Director at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Oleksandr Sushko said.

According to the expert, the benefits of the law are leveled by its disadvantages.

He said that it was necessary to cancel the law, introduce amendments to it, or adopt a new law.

Sushko said that it was necessary to correct such notions as “manager of the register,” “authorized body,” because in the current wording of the law the two subjects are bodies on the implementation of the state policy in the field of migration, including the registration of nationality, individuals, refugees and other persons, categories of migrants specified by law, and in the fight against illegal migration.

Among the amendments that should be introduced, experts proposed cancelling the article about the map of the migrant.

“Article 35 entitled ‘The Map of the Migrant’ should be removed completely, because migrant status is not envisaged by Ukrainian legislation,” Sushko said.

He also said that the law does not contain the exact purpose for the creation of the unified state demographic register.

Deputy Chairman of the State Service of Ukraine on the Protection of Personal Data Volodymyr Kozak agreed with Sushko.

“It’s necessary to formulate the purpose of this law,” he said.

Kozak also stressed the need to resolve the issue of safe identification across the country.

“We have no clear concept of identity,” he said.

As reported, the law of Ukraine on a unified state demographic register and identity documents, which envisages the introduction of electronic passports for Ukrainians, came into force on December 6.

The Verkhovna Rada passed the law on November 20, taking into account proposals made by the president. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed the law on November 29.

The document foresees the introduction of electronic passports containing electronic chips with biometric information for traveling abroad, according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

According to the law, the passports of Ukrainian citizens will be produced in the form of cards with contactless smart chips and issued no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the submission of a relevant application. 

The electronic passports will include the name of the state, the name of the document, the full name of the holder, the holder’s gender, citizenship, date of birth, and a unique number in the register, the number of the document, the date of the document’s expiry, the date of issue of the document, the name of the agency that issued the document, the place of birth, a photo and the signature of the holder