ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF CHARITY AND VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article offers a comprehensive legal analysis of the charitable and volunteering sectors in Ukraine, situating their development within the broader dynamics of national security challenges and socio-economic transformation. It traces the evolution of regulation from the early years of independence to the current period of martial law, clarifying statutory definitions, core principles, organizational forms, and the doctrinal relationship by which vo lunteering is recognized as a modality of charitable activity. Special emphasis is placed on wartime legislative adap tations that broaden the lawful objectives of volunteering, including support for national defense, identity, and post-war recovery, and on the tax and administrative framework governing non-profit status, indirect taxation, and compliance obligations for charitable organizations. The analysis identifies structural deficiencies that impede sector performance, notably the absence of a unified
general-purpose volunteer registry, uneven social protections and reimbursement mechanisms for volunteers beyond defense-related activities, and the legal uncertainty surrounding corporate volunteering in labor relations. These gaps
are considered in conjunction with the current system of reporting and oversight for nonprofits, with attention to how standar dized forms and limited digital monitoring constrain transparency, failing to reflect the operational diversity of
funds, societies, and institutions. The study integrates comparative insights from international soft law and European policy instruments that promote enab ling environments for volunteering and philanthropy, using them as benchmarks
for aligning Ukrainian rules with contemporary standards of accountability, proportionality, and public benefit. On this basis, the article advances a set of pragmatic recommendations directed at legislators and regulators: establishing an electronic volunteer re gist ry with functional segmentation, introducing targeted labor-law guarantees for employee-volunteers, extending social protection beyond defense-specific contexts, refining tax incentives and reporting proportionality for donors and organizations, and deploying interoperable e-reporting tools to enhance traceability of charitable flows. The findings underscore that sustained legal modernization — anchored in European norms and responsive to wartime realities — is essential for increasing the effectiveness, legitimacy, and resilience of Ukraine’s charitable and volunteering ecosystems during recovery and long-term development.