A fast-tracked rewrite of Ukraine's Civil Code has cleared its first reading and several of its provisions could expose civil society organisations and journalists to new legal pressure, clashing with the country's EU accession commitments.

The draft law from March has been substantially weakened, removing key judicial appeal mechanisms and reducing accountability to individual disciplinary measures, resulting in g a law that authorities can ignore with near impunity.

Pressure on freedoms of expression and assembly continues to grow.