THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT or Temporary Protection. The Law on Refugees and Persons in Need of Complementary or Temporary Protection does not recognize the persons granted refugee status in Ukraine before the entry into force of the Law as permanently residing in Ukraine. To overcome this gap, it is necessary to amend the Law to recognize such refugees as already permanently residing in Ukraine at the moment the Law took effect. The Law of Ukraine on Registration of Civil Status Acts. Since every child must be registered upon birth, the Law must provide for a possibility of registering a child’s birth even if his/her parents are irregular migrants or if the parents have no identity documents. Currently, the Law does not provide for the right to registration of civil status acts for foreigners and stateless persons under the jurisdiction of Ukraine. Besides, the Law does not regulate birth registration of children whose parents have no passports. According to the law, only a Ukrainian passport or a passport document is valid for registration of civil status acts. Other identity documents issued in Ukraine are not listed as documents giving the right to registration of civil status acts (e.g. a certificate on application for protection in Ukraine cannot be used to register such acts). To secure access of asylum-seekers and other migrant categories to registration of civil status acts, it is necessary to extend the list of the documents based on which civil status acts are registered on basis of the documents issued by Ukraine to foreigners and stateless persons and certifying their identity, certificates on application for protection in Ukraine, and certificates stating that a person’s identity has been established, but citizenship of any state has not). There is some collision in the Ukrainian legislation: a person may not obtain a passport without a birth certificate, but upon attainment of 16 years of age may not obtain a birth certificate without a passport35. To settle this issue, provisions of the Law concerning state birth registration of persons having attained 16 years of age must be conciliated with provisions of the Ukrainian legislation that regulates the procedure of issuance of Ukrainian citizen passport and other identity documents36. The Law of Ukraine on the Uniform State Demographic Register and on the Documents Confirming the Citizenship of Ukraine, Certifying Identity, or Confirming the Person’s Special Status. First and foremost, in this Law the matters on execution and issuance of a Ukrainian citizen passport should be regulated taking into account the provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Citizenship of Ukraine. 35 See http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0719-00 36 See http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z1089-12 40