The Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) is launching a series of articles analyzing court rulings on the creation and distribution of pornographic materials. This initiative supports Draft Law No.12191, which aims to decriminalize pornography in Ukraine. The first article examines a verdict by a district court in Odesa region, where a woman was convicted for publishing adult content on Telegram. The court referred to an international convention in 1923 that Ukraine had never signed.
In the reasoning section of the verdict, the court stated that the defendant had created pornographic photo and video materials and posted them on a messaging platform for money:
“According to Part 1, Article 1 of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Circulation of and Traffic in Obscene Publications of September 12, 1923, the production or possession of works (…) or other obscene objects for sale or distribution, or their public display, is subject to punishment (…)”
“PERSON_4 (…), being aware of the mentioned regulatory acts (…), created pornographic photo and video content for subsequent sale, which she produced herself by photographing and filming her genitalia in a vulgar, naturalistic, cynical, and obscene manner, capturing close-up images of her exposed genitals (…) on her personal Telegram channel ‘INFORMATION_2,’ access to which was provided for a fee.”
Despite this, Ukraine is not listed among the signatories of the convention on the UN depositary page. The country has never joined it nor confirmed its validity through succession. The UN Secretariat has also confirmed this, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informed the Ministry of Internal Affairs back in 2023.
Additionally, the court cited the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Public Morality,” which had been repealed more than a year before the alleged offense, as well as the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, which does not regulate content distribution via messaging platforms and social networks.
“Ukrainian courts issue sentences based on legal norms that are not in effect in Ukraine. Over the past three years, there have been about 40 pornography-related verdicts with identical charges. Some judges do not even attempt to justify why they are convicting individuals. They are prosecuting actions that do not pose a public danger. This is a very troubling sign for the judiciary and law enforcement systems,” commented Ihor Samokhodskyi, IT&Telecom Sector Head at BRDO.
From 2022 to 2024, there have been 39 cases where court rulings referenced the century-old convention banning pornography, which is not legally binding in Ukraine. Moreover, during discussions on the draft of Ukraine’s new Criminal Code, scholars also referred to this document.
In the third year of the war, law enforcement authorities continue to spend resources prosecuting Ukrainians for intimate photos and videos instead of directing them toward addressing real threats. The new pornography-related cases opened by the National Police further confirm this trend.
BRDO, along with several civil society organizations, opposes the criminal prosecution of Ukrainians for producing and distributing pornographic materials. In November 2024, Draft Law No.12191 on the decriminalization of pornography was registered in Parliament. At the same time, BRDO supports maintaining liability for child pornography production, distribution of materials to minors, public display of pornography, human trafficking, or dissemination of adult content without consent.
As part of the Pornobarometer project, Ukrainian courts received 1,104 indictments related to pornography in the first nine months of 2024—75% more than in the same period of 2023.
According to BRDO’s forecast, decriminalizing pornography could generate UAH 509 million in tax revenue. To achieve this, Parliament needs to pass Draft Law No.12191 and ensure cooperation between the State Tax Service and the Bureau of Economic Security.