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On February 7, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine issued its Decision № 1-r/2023 in the Case on the constitutional petition of 56 people's deputies of Ukraine regarding the compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine (constitutionality) of the third paragraph of the second part of Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine "On Complete General Secondary Education". According to this Decision, the aforementioned provision, according to which "pedagogical employees of state and municipal general secondary education institutions who have reached retirement age and are paid an old-age pension shall work on the basis of employment contracts concluded for a period of one to three years", was recognized as inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine (unconstitutional), which made it impossible to conclude indefinite employment contracts with this category of pedagogical employees. The regulation became invalid as of the date of adoption of this Decision by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

On February 7, 2023, Presidential Decree № 69/2023 established the Chernihiv City Military Administration of the Chernihiv District of Chernihiv Oblast.

On February 6, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Resolutions № 2898-IX and № 2897-IX, according to which, during the period of martial law in Ukraine and 30 days after its termination or abolition, the Heads of the Prysyvaska, Tavrychanska village, Novokakhovska city military administrations of Kakhovka district, Muzykivska village, Bilozerka village and Oleshky town military administrations of Kherson district, Kherson region, as well as Savynka village military administration of Izium district, Vilkhuvata, Kurylivka village and Shevchenka village military administrations of Kupiansk district, Starosaltivka village military administration of Chuhuiv district, Kharkiv region:

• in addition to the powers referred to their competence by the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law", exercise the powers of the relevant village, settlement, city councils, their executive committees, and the relevant village, settlement, city mayors;

• may approve the temporary structure of the executive bodies of the respective village, settlement, or city councils (for employees whose positions are not included in the temporary staffing lists, a simple idle period is announced or they are transferred to an equivalent or lower position);

• the apparatuses of local councils and their executive committees, other executive bodies (considering the third paragraph of paragraph 1 of part two of Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law"), municipal enterprises, institutions, and organizations of the respective territorial communities are subordinated to the heads of the respective military administrations of the settlements.

On February 28, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 174 "Some Issues of Organizing a Capable Network of Healthcare Institutions". By this Resolution:

• approved the "Procedure for the Functioning of Hospital Districts and Hospital Clusters and Establishment of Their Boundaries";

• updated the "Procedure for Holding a Competition for the Position of Head of a State or Municipal Healthcare Institution" approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 1094 dated December 27, 2017, on the formation of the competition commission.

Local governments may submit their proposals to the hospital district development plan to the regional, Kyiv, and Sevastopol city state administrations at the level of the respective hospital clusters.

On February 28, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 170 "On Amendments to the Regulation on Certification of Teachers". We would like to remind you that the purpose of certification is to identify and encourage teachers with a high level of pedagogical excellence, who are proficient in competency-based teaching methods and new educational technologies and promote their dissemination. Teachers take part in the certification on a voluntary basis and may refuse to participate at any stage.

So now, teachers who, at the time of registration for certification, hold the relevant position at their main place of work and have at least two years of teaching experience can take part in the certification. A pedagogical employee who has already participated in the certification but has not received a certificate has the right to re-certify no earlier than a year. A pedagogical worker may exercise the right to undergo certification at the expense of the state budget only once every three years.

On February 24, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 159 "On Amendments to the Procedure and Conditions for Providing in 2023 an Additional Subsidy from the State Budget to Local Budgets for the Exercise of Powers of Local Self-Government Bodies in the De-occupied, Temporarily Occupied and Other Territories of Ukraine Affected by the Full-Scale Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation". The terms of distribution and the formula for calculating the number of additional subsidies between local government budgets have been updated.

On February 17, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 157 "On Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1178 dated October 12, 2022 "On Approval of the Peculiarities of Public Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services for Customers Provided for by the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" for the Period of Martial Law in Ukraine and within 90 days from the date of its termination or cancellation". Public procurement of goods, works and services is prohibited:

• Citizens of the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus (except for those who legally reside in Ukraine);

• legal entities established and registered in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus;

• legal entities established and registered in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, the ultimate beneficial owner, member, or participant (shareholder) with a share in the authorized capital of 10 percent or more of which is the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus, a citizen of the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus (except for those who legally reside in Ukraine), or legal entities established and registered in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus;

• goods originating from the Russian Federation/Republic of Belarus, except for goods necessary for the repair and maintenance of goods purchased before the entry into force of this Resolution.

This Resolution also introduced the following changes:

• • individual customers are obliged to publish a report on the fulfillment of the procurement contract in the electronic procurement system;

  • the number of grounds for procurement without the use of Prozorro has been reduced;

  • clarified what information procuring entities may not publish in annual procurement plans and tender announcements if such information poses a security risk;

  • introduced an obligation to publish the texts of contracts and all annexes thereto in case of procurement without the use of Prozorro, but left the possibility to hide sensitive information about the supplier and delivery address if such information poses a security threat.

On February 17, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 149 "On Approval of the Procedure for Verification of Information on Education, Qualifications and Professional Experience of Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Other Healthcare Workers". The new Procedure defines the mechanism for verification of information on education, qualifications, and professional experience of medical, pharmaceutical, and other healthcare workers employed abroad. This Procedure applies to medical, pharmaceutical, and other healthcare professionals (rehabilitation specialists, professionals with higher non-medical education working in the healthcare sector) - citizens of Ukraine, as well as foreigners and stateless persons who have been legally staying in Ukraine (studying and/or working) and are employed abroad, including those who left Ukraine during the period of martial law.

On February 17, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 146 "On Amendments to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 20 dated January 16, 2013 "On Approval of the Procedure for Concluding an Internship Agreement for Students of Higher Education Institutions and Students of Vocational (Vocational and Technical) Education Institutions at Enterprises, Institutions, and Organizations and the Standard Form of an Internship Agreement for Students of Higher Education Institutions and Students of Vocational (Vocational and Technical) Education Institutions at Enterprises, Institutions and Organizations". It updates the mechanism for entering into internship agreements with employers by students of vocational (vocational-technical), professional pre-university, and higher education with employers in their free time, as well as the standard form of such an agreement. The employer shall make a record of the internship in the employment record book (if any), which, if absent, shall be executed in accordance with the law at the request of the employee. Information about the internship shall be entered into the register of insured persons of the State Register of Compulsory State Social Insurance.

This Resolution shall enter into force on April 29, 2023.

On February 14, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 134 "On Amendments to Certain Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Civil Protection". It amended several Government Resolutions, including:

• • "The Procedure for Preparing Actions on the Assignment of Civil Defense Authorities and Forces", approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 443 dated June 26, 2013;

  • The Procedure for Training the Population to Act in Emergency Situations, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 444 of June 26, 2013;

  • The Procedure for the Establishment, Tasks and Functions of Civil Defense Formations, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 787 of October 9, 2013;

  • "The Procedure for Training of Management and Specialists whose Activities are Related to the Organization and Implementation of Civil Protection Measures", approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 819 of October 23, 2013;

  • The Procedure for Evacuation in Case of Threat or Occurrence of Emergency Situations, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 841 dated October 30, 2013;

  • Regulation on the Unified State System of Civil Protection, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on January 9, 2014, No. 11;

  • Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 101 of March 11, 2015 "On Approval of Standard Provisions on Functional and Territorial Subsystems of the Unified State Civil Protection System";

  • "Model Regulation on Regional and Local Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies" approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 409 dated June 17, 2015;

  • Regulation on Specialized Civil Protection Services, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on July 8, 2015, No. 469;

  • Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 138 of March 10, 2017 "Some Issues of Using Civil Protection Facilities";

  • The Procedure for Developing Action Plans for the Unified State Civil Protection System, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 626 of August 9, 2017.

On February 10, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 124 "On Approval of the Procedure for Providing Employers with Compensation for Employment of Registered Unemployed Persons". This Procedure defines the conditions and mechanism for the payment of compensation to employers by interregional and regional employment centers and their branches, as well as by regional, Kyiv city, city, district, and city-district employment centers (until their reorganization is completed) for the employment of registered unemployed persons.

On February 10, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 119 "On Amendments to Clauses 2-14 of the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine". From now on, a woman (including a woman who is an adoptive parent, guardian, custodian, one of the foster parents or one of the foster parents) and/or a man who is a single parent, a single adoptive parent, or a guardian, custodian, foster parent or foster father (provided that he is not married and independently raises and maintains a child without the mother's participation) who have or are raising a child/children under the age of 18, when they travel outside Ukraine to visit such children who are outside Ukraine, or to accompany such children to travel outside Ukraine, is carried out by authorized persons of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine upon presentation of relevant supporting documents.

On February 8, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 117 "On Approval of the Procedure for Decision-Making on Providing State Support for Public-Private Partnerships". This Procedure defines the mechanism for making a decision on providing state support for the implementation of public-private partnerships, if such state support is provided at the expense of the state and local budgets by paying the private partner for operational readiness and making other payments stipulated by the agreement concluded under the public-private partnership, including a concession agreement. Local governments are recommended to apply the Procedure approved by this resolution when making decisions on providing state support for public-private partnerships, if such state support is provided at the expense of the local budget by paying the private partner for operational readiness and making other payments stipulated by the agreement concluded under the public-private partnership, including the concession agreement.

On February 7, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 112 "On Approval of the Procedure for Forest Management". This Procedure defines a unified system and conditions for organizing and implementing forest management, as well as organizing relations with participants in the forest management process.

The main components of the forest management system are:

• • determination of conditions and mechanism of forest management in accordance with Article 46 of the Forest Code of Ukraine;

  • organization of relations between the state forest management organization and:

• permanent forest users, citizens and legal entities that own forests in private ownership - in terms of fulfilling their obligations to conduct forestry on the basis of forest management materials in accordance with Articles 14 and 19 of the Forest Code of Ukraine;

• the State Forestry Agency and its territorial bodies - in terms of organizing forest management in accordance with Article 28-1 of the Forest Code of Ukraine;

• local self-government bodies - in terms of implementation of the state policy in the field of forest relations in accordance with Articles 30 and 31 of the Forest Code of Ukraine, in particular, the development of programs for the protection, defense, use and reproduction of forests;

• the public - in terms of meeting the requirements of the State Forest Management Strategy of Ukraine until 2035, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on December 29, 2021, No. 1777, regarding open access to socially important information about forests, regardless of their form of ownership.

On February 4, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 106 "On Amendments to the Procedure for Maintaining the State Land Cadastre". The Resolution amended the Procedure in respect of:

• • introducing mechanisms for amending the State Land Cadastre's data on land plots to include the land plots of self-forested areas;

  • information interaction of basic registers, in particular, the use of information on the unique record number in the Unified State Demographic Register;

  • verification of information (data) about a person and identification of a person in the information and communication systems of central executive authorities;

  • bringing the use of electronic communications terminology in line with the recently introduced amendments to the legislation.

On February 4, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 105 "On Approval of the Procedure for Cutting Down Trees and Shrubs and Using the Wood Obtained in the Event of Changing the Designated Purpose of Land Forest Plots or Establishing an Easement for the Purpose of Using Them for Purposes Other Than Forestry and Transferring Land Forest Plots to Non-forest Land". This Procedure does not apply to timber harvesting during harvesting for main use, maintenance, sanitary, reforestation, reformation, landscape, and reconstruction-related harvesting.

If a decision is made to change the designated purpose of forest land plots for the purpose of using them for purposes not related to forestry, the authorities making such a decision shall simultaneously decide on the preservation or cutting down of trees and shrubs and on the procedure for using the wood obtained in this way.

On February 1, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution № 92 "On Amendments to the Regulation on Preparing and Conducting Conscription of Citizens of Ukraine for Regular Military Service and Acceptance of Conscripts for Contractual Military Service". It supplemented the above Regulation with Section XI "Peculiarities of Conscription for Regular Military Service during Martial Law". However, clause 115 of the updated Regulation emphasizes that during martial law, conscription for regular military service is not carried out.

The Order of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine № 41 of February 9, 2023 "On Approval of Amendments to the List of Territories in which Military Operations are (were) Conducted or Temporarily Occupied by the Russian Federation" updated the list of the above-mentioned territories. Thus, the updated List includes territories of territorial communities from Dnipropetrovs'k, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions.

The Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine № 208 "On Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 77 dated January 13, 2023" of February 3, 2023, updated the content of the "Hygienic water quality standards for water bodies to meet drinking, household and other needs of the population".