Improve Government Rules on CSO Involvement (UA0031)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Ukraine Second Action Plan 2014-2015
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Justice
Support Institution(s): United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), unspecified NGOs and international organisations
Policy Areas
E-Government, Legislation & Regulation, Legislative, Open Regulations, Public ParticipationIRM Review
IRM Report: Ukraine End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Ukraine IRM Report 2014 – 2015
Starred: No
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Civic Participation , Public Accountability
Implementation i
Description
Preparing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposals on amending the Cabinet of Ministers resolutions that govern the procedure of interaction with civil society institutions as regards public consultations, establishment and operation of public councils under executive authorities, facilitation of public expert evaluations of executive authorities’ activities
IRM End of Term Status Summary
1. Improve government rules on CSO involvement
Commitment Text: Preparing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposals on amending the Cabinet of Ministers resolutions that govern the procedure of interaction with civil society institutions as regards public consultations, establishment and operation of public councils under executive authorities, facilitation of public expert evaluations of executive authorities’ activities.
Expected result: relevant resolution adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
4. Public Participation Law
Commitment Text: Developing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in due course of a draft law on public participation in state policy making and implementation as well as in addressing local-level issues.
Expected result: relevant draft law endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and followed up until adoption.
Editorial Note: The IRM researcher grouped these two commitments together, since both are related to public participation in policy making.
Responsible institution(s): Ministry of Justice
Supporting institution(s): United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), unspecified NGOs and international organisations (commitment 1); Ministry of Regional Development, State Agency for E-Governance, Administration of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, NGO "Ukrainian Independent Centre for Political Research," UNDP, non-specified NGOs and international organisations (Commitment 4)
Start Date: Not specified .............. End Date: May 2015
Commitment aim
Both commitments aimed to improve civil society participation in the development and implementation of public policy by establishing new formal procedures and structures or refining existing ones. Civil society engagement is crucial for effective participatory democracy, especially in Ukraine, where the legacy of state monopoly over public policy is still strong. Commitment 1 focused on improving government rules to better facilitate public consultation in policymaking. Commitment 4 sought to draft and, ultimately, adopt a law on public participation. If implemented, this would be a major step forward in improving citizen engagement in decision making.
Status
1. Improving government rules on CSO involvement
Midterm: Complete
The government adopted several regulations with regard to CSOs involvement in the policy making process: Procedure for Consultations with the Public on Policy Development and Implementation, and Model Regulations on Public Councils to the Executive Authorities (both adopted in 2010), as well as Procedure for Facilitating Public Examination of the Executive Authorities (adopted in 2008). For a long time, CSOs advocated for revision of the above regulations to streamline and make them more effective. The first commitment was fully implemented. The Ministry of Justice set up a working group to develop amendments, and held public consultations on the draft proposals in December 2014. Draft amendments were published on the ministry’s website and the government’s web portal, “Civil Society and Authorities.” The government enacted relevant amendments to its own regulations in April 2015. Civil society groups reported that the ministry developed the draft amendments in an open and inclusive manner, and that they (the amendments) are generally positive and significantly improve relevant procedures. The changes include simplifying and improving consultation methods, making consultations more open and inclusive, and setting clear lists of issues that require mandatory public consultation. In addition, regulations were strengthened for an accountability mechanism that allows public examination of authorities.[Note 1: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2014-15: Ukraine, 24, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Ukraine_Second_IRM_Report_PublicComment_ENG.pdf]
4. Public Participation Law
Midterm: Limited
The government’s plan for many years included the development of a law on public participation in policy formulation and implementation. According to the government’s self-assessment, the Ministry of Justice set up a working group to develop the draft law. It included representatives of CSOs and, in March 2015, the Government’s Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice held public consultations on the topic. The Ministry of Justice, together with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Project Coordinator’s Office and the Government’s Secretariat, organised six regional discussions in June and September 2015. The working group prepared a compendium of best practices and international standards in this area, and published it on the government’s website. Comments on the draft law proposals were also solicited through an online form. Eventually, the scope of the draft law was narrowed to focus on “public consultations,” which made it more tangible and realistic.[Note 2: Ibid, 25.]
End of term: Substantial
Based on the preliminary discussions, the Ministry of Justice prepared a draft law on public consultations. This was published for consultation on the websites of both the ministry and government in July-August 2016. On 31 October 2016, the ministry put out a report on the results of the consultations.[Note 3: http://bit.ly/2glgW3s. ] The report described the latest consultation exercise, as well as previous discussions, and explained which proposals were taken into account and which were not. The Ministry of Justice also requested OSCE/ODIHR to examine the draft law. The OSCE/ODIHR evaluations were delivered in September 2016.[Note 4: http://bit.ly/2hkz6A7. ] As of December 2016, the draft law had not yet been submitted to Parliament.
Did it open government?
1. Improving government rules on CSO involvement
Civic participation: Marginal
Public accountability: Marginal
The commitment aimed to improve a set of formal rules for civic participation and oversight of government decision making. Its potential was moderate, as it aimed to streamline the rules and procedures put in place between 2008 and 2010. In completing this commitment, the Ministry of Justice worked with civil society to amend three regulations: the Procedure for Consultations with the Public on Policy Development and Implementation; Model Regulations on Public Councils to the Executive Authorities; and Procedures for Facilitating Public Examination of the Executive Authorities. As reported at the midterm, the changes were brought about through an inclusive consultation process between the ministry and civil soceity. The activities included simplifying the consultation process and strengthening an accountability mechanism to allow public examination of authorities. However, as implemented, the commitment had only a marginal impact on changing government practice. The government used the adopted changes in the rules to re-launch civic councils that had been discredited due to their collaboration with the previous government. The new regulations attempted to address deficiencies in the older versions; the latter allowed civic participation structures to be hijacked by fake or government-affiliated NGOs (GONGOs), thereby undermining their watchdog function. Nevertheless, the changes implemented to replace the old procedures and structures did not improve their effectiveness. While this commitment marginally improved civic participation and public accountability by modernising some formal procedures of cooperation, the effect on open government was limited. This can be explained by outdated procedures and structures, for example, civic councils, whose role — to ensure collaboration with civil society and public oversight — declined further.[Note 5: Maksym Latsyba, NGO Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Research, interview with the IRM researcher, 29 September 2015.]
4. Public Participation Law
Civic participation: Marginal
Public accountability: Did not change
The commitment aimed to develop a new mechanism for involving civil society in the government decision-making process. If it provides for detailed and meaningful consultation procedures, the draft law could have a moderate impact on public engagement. However, as noted in the midterm report, the drafting process would have benefited from an analysis of the reasons behind poor enforcement of the current regulations on public consultations to identify more effective tools to address this problem. The government has yet to complete this commitment. Still, its consultation process vis-a-vis this draft law was more open than that of many other policy decisions or draft laws. This marginally opened the government with regard to civic participation.
Carried forward?
The first commitment on improving government rules vis-a-vis CSO involvement was not carried over to the new action plan. The fourth commitment on the Public Participation Law was included in the new plan. The Ministry of Justice, together with non-governmental partners, is to lead the development of a draft law on public consultations and submit it to the government. The commitment no longer includes the task of submitting the draft law to Parliament and following it to adoption.
Commitments
-
Infrastructure Data Portal
UA0070, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Standard for e-System
UA0071, 2018, E-Government
-
Ensuring Openness and Transparency of Selling Public Assets and Property
UA0072, 2018, E-Government
-
Transparency in Public Procurement (Prozorro)
UA0073, 2018, Access to Information
-
Awarenss Raising About Social and Economic Development
UA0074, 2018, Aid
-
e-Calls for Proposals to Support CSOs
UA0075, 2018, Civic Space
-
Beneficial Ownership Registry
UA0076, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Anti-Corruption Training
UA0077, 2018, Anti-Corruption
-
Publishing Environmental Information
UA0078, 2018, E-Government
-
Database of Natural Resources
UA0079, 2018, Access to Information
-
Interactive Map of Mines
UA0080, 2018, E-Government
-
Priority Electronic Services
UA0081, 2018, Citizenship & Immigration
-
Online Platform for Executive Bodies and CSOs
UA0082, 2018, Civic Space
-
EITI Online Data
UA0083, 2018, Access to Information
-
Electronic Resources for Education
UA0084, 2018, Access to Information
-
Online Verification of Education Certificates
UA0085, 2018, E-Government
-
Free Access to National Repository for Academic Texts
UA0086, 2018, E-Government
-
Administrative Service Decentrilisation and Improvement
UA0057, 2016, Capacity Building
-
United State Portal Extension; Electronic Government Information Services Unification; Modern Tools for Electronic Identification
UA0058, 2016, Capacity Building
-
System for Entities Performing Government Functions
UA0059, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Free Urban Planning Documentation
UA0060, 2016, E-Government
-
Beneficial Ownership Verification System
UA0061, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
CoST Beneficial Ownership Standards
UA0062, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Transpartent Budget System
UA0063, 2016,
-
Open Public Procurement
UA0064, 2016, Access to Information
-
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
UA0065, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Environmental Public Monitoring
UA0066, 2016, Access to Information
-
Community Policing System
UA0067, 2016, Education
-
Draft Law on Public Consultations
UA0068, 2016, Legislation & Regulation
-
Development of E-Democracy.
UA0069, 2016, E-petitions
-
Improve Government Rules on CSO Involvement
UA0031, 2014, E-Government
-
Financing of Charities
UA0032, 2014, Civic Space
-
Not-For-Profit Status for CSOs
UA0033, 2014, Civic Space
-
Public Participation Law
UA0034, 2014, E-Government
-
Establishing Rules on Processing Official Information
UA0035, 2014, Access to Information
-
Access to Urban Planning Documents
UA0036, 2014, E-Government
-
Access to Communist-Era Archives
UA0037, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
-
Draft Law on Open Data
UA0038, 2014, Access to Information
-
Supervisory Mechanism for the Right to Information
UA0039, 2014, Access to Information
-
Compliance with EITI
UA0040, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Monitoring of Infrastructure Projects
UA0041, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Adopt Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes
UA0042, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology
UA0043, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Asset Disclosure on a Single Web Portal
UA0044, 2014, Anti-Corruption
-
Law on Administrative Procedure
UA0045, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
-
Law on Streamlining Payment of Administrative Fees
UA0046, 2014, E-Government
-
Administrative Services Portal
UA0047, 2014, Access to Information
-
Draft Law on Decentralisation of Administrative Services
UA0048, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
-
Draft Law on Social Services
UA0049, 2014, E-Government
-
e-Government Laws
UA0050, 2014, E-Government
-
Electronic Readiness Assessment
UA0051, 2014, E-Government
-
Government Regulations on Open Data
UA0052, 2014, Access to Information
-
Electronic Democracy Development Roadmap
UA0053, 2014, E-Government
-
Open Budget Initiatives
UA0054, 2014, Access to Information
-
e-Petitions
UA0055, 2014, Dispute Resolution & Legal Assistance
-
e-Governance Training for Local Government
UA0056, 2014, Capacity Building
-
Laws on Public Participation
UA0001, 2012, Civic Space
-
Amendments to the Law on Community Associations
UA0002, 2012, Civic Space
-
Amendments to Resolutions on Collaboration with Civil Society
UA0003, 2012, E-Government
-
Training for Public Servants on Consultations
UA0004, 2012, Capacity Building
-
Harmonisation of Access to Information Laws
UA0005, 2012, Access to Information
-
By-Laws on Access to Information
UA0006, 2012, Access to Information
-
Guidelines for Classifying Data
UA0007, 2012, Public Participation
-
Public Information Recording Systems
UA0008, 2012,
-
Law on Public Broadcasting
UA0009, 2012, Civic Space
-
Public Access to Information in State Registers
UA0010, 2012, E-Government
-
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
UA0011, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Law for Controlling Declarations of Public Servants
UA0012, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Public Declarations of Officials’ Assets
UA0013, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest
UA0014, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Updated Anti-Corruption Laws
UA0015, 2012, E-Government
-
Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes
UA0016, 2012, E-Government
-
Law on Competitive e-Government Procurement
UA0017, 2012, Anti-Corruption
-
Administrative Services Reforms
UA0018, 2012, E-Government
-
Electronic Access to Administrative Services
UA0019, 2012, E-Government
-
Governmental Web Portal of Administrative Services
UA0020, 2012, E-Government
-
Administrative Services in a Digital Format
UA0021, 2012,
-
Regional Administrative Service Centres
UA0022, 2012,
-
Programme for Promotion of e-Government
UA0023, 2012, E-Government
-
Electronic Collaboration Between Executive Agencies
UA0024, 2012,
-
Web-Based Petitions System
UA0025, 2012, E-petitions
-
One Stop Shop for e-Reporting
UA0026, 2012, E-Government
-
e-Region Pilot Project
UA0027, 2012, E-Government
-
Network of e-Government Practitioners
UA0028, 2012, Public Participation
-
Public Libraries as Bridges Towards e-Governance
UA0029, 2012, E-Government
-
e-Government Knowledge Management Portal
UA0030, 2012,