Election

She was elected a deputy in the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) in 1994 for the 28th single-member electoral district in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as independent, representing Alushta.

Human rights

Soon after her election, she was appointed deputy head of Verkhovna Rada committee for human rights, national minorities and international relations. Karpachova has been active in adopting international human rights standards into national legislation.

Karpachova has headed a number of governmental and parliamentary delegations of Ukraine at international and European conferences on human rights issues. In 1995, she coordinated parliamentary hearings for Ukraine's ratification process of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. On her initiative the National Centre of the Adoption of Orphan Children was established in 1996 under the Ministry of Education.

Legislation

Karpachova is the author of four draft laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada:

• Adoption of Orphan Children (part of the Marriage and Family Code)
• Judicial Procedure of the Adoption of Orphan Children (part of the Civil Procedure Code)
• Law on the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights
• Article 1241 of Criminal Code, establishing criminal liability for trafficking in human beings

Other posts

From 1996 to 1998, Karpachova was vice-president of the World Congress of Ukrainian Lawyers, when she was appointed the first Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights. In 1999, she also was named head of the National Coordination Council for the Prevention of Human Trafficking. She became a member of the European Ombudsman Institute in 1999 and the International Ombudsman Institute in 2000.