Law on Streamlining Payment of Administrative Fees (UA0046)

Developing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in due course a draft law on streamlining of relations concerning payment for administrative services

14. Streamline payment of administrative fees

5-B) Streamlining Payment of Administrative Services Fee

Commitment Text: 14. Developing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in due course a draft law on streamlining of relations concerning payment for administrative services.

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.

16. Decentralise administrative services

5-C) Decentralisation of Administrative Services

Commitment Text: 16. Developing and submitting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in due course a draft law on decentralisation of powers concerning the provision of administrative services, most important to citizens, in particular to ensure their provision through Administrative Service Provision Centres, namely:

- registration of residence (stay), issuing of identity documents, including for leaving abroad;

- state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, real estate rights and their encumbrances, citizens’ associations, and civil status;

-state registration of land plots, entry and issuance of data from the State Land Cadastre;

-registration of vehicles, execution of driver’s licences.

Expected result: powers in question delegated to local self-governance bodies and local executive authorities.

Lead institution(s): Ministry of Economic Development (commitment 14); Ministry of Regional Development (Commitment 16)

Supporting institution(s): Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Regional Development, NGO Centre for Political and Legal Reforms, other non-specified NGOs and international organisations (commitment 14); Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Agricultural Policy, Ministry of Economic Development, State Registration Service, State Migration Service, State Agency for Land Resources, unspecified NGOs and international organisations (Commitment 16)

Start Date: Not specified                                 End Date: 30 June 2015 (Commitment 14);

31 December 2015 (Commitment 16)

Commitment aim

14. Streamline payment of administrative fees

This commitment attempted to draft a law to streamline fees for administrative services. Streamlining the provision of administrative services by public authorities is important to ensuring good governance and the services of the state. The uncoordinated practice of charging administrative fees presents a barrier to effective service provision, and affects citizens’ satisfaction. If implemented, the law would ensure legal certainty and transparency, and reduce corruption risks in the area of administrative services.

16. Decentralise administrative services

The commitment aimed to develop a draft law on the decentralisation of powers concerning the provision of administrative services. These included registration of residence (stay); issuance of identity documents; state registration of legal entities, citizens’ associations, and civil status; movable and immovable property; and issuance of driver’s licences. In Ukraine, where administrative services have been highly centralised, it is generally perceived that decentralisation is crucial for reducing corruption and ensuring better quality of public services. Decentralisation of public functions has become an important public policy issue in Ukraine since 2014.

Status

14. Streamline payment of administrative fees

Midterm: Limited

The Ministry of Economic Development put together a draft law on administrative services and their fees. The law proposed to unify names of administrative services, establish fees for their provision, and prohibit the provision of services not included in the law. In August 2015, the government endorsed the draft law. However, it instructed the ministry to make it clear that the Cabinet of Ministers, not the law, would define the fees for the provision of administrative services. On 15 September 2015, the ministry resubmitted the draft law to the government, which sent it to parliament on 12 October 2015.^{[Note 68: http://bit.ly/1OUX0yJ. ]} It lists 563 administrative services (some composed of several items), and delegates the power to establish fees to the government. Civil society experts criticised the draft law; their view was that the list of administrative services did not have to be established by the law, but could have been published in the Register of Administrative Services. The leading civil society expert in this area noted that the law could not exhaustively define all the services, and that the list should be flexible.^{[Note 69: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2014-15: Ukraine, 56.]}

Overall, the government failed to implement the commitment. The draft law contradicted the commitment, insofar as it included no provisions for streamlining payment for administrative services. On the contrary, it effectively removed regulation of this issue from the law.^{[Note 70: Ibid, 56.]}

End of term: Limited

According to the government’s final self-assessment report, the draft law submitted to Parliament was later recalled and not re-submitted. Meanwhile, in December 2015, Parliament adopted amendments stating that fees for administrative services should be established by laws regulating those services. During implementation, the government effectively changed its position and abandoned the idea of having a unified list of administrative services approved in the law. This position was criticised by civil society experts.^{[Note 71: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2014-15: Ukraine, 57.]} The new legal amendments introduced in December 2015 recognised the need to regulate payment of administrative fees in the law, and not by government fiat. This also contradicted the government’s position. Therefore, the commitment remained valid, but has not been implemented. According to the leading civil society expert in this area, Parliament should pass a framework law to regulate administrative fees, and establish in the law the fees for basic administrative services.^{[Note 72: Interview with Viktor Tymoshchuk, NGO Centre for Political and Legal Reforms.]}

16. Decentralise administrative services

Midterm: Substantial

The government substantially implemented the commitment by preparing and submitting, directly or through members of Parliament, draft laws to decentralise the following administrative services: state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and citizens’ associations; registration of real estate possession rights and their encumbrances; state registration of land plots; entry and issuance of data from the State Land Cadastre; and registration of residence (stay). The government proposed to decentralise the registration of vehicles and the issuing of driver’s licences in 2018. No draft law was prepared to decentralise the issuing of identity documents, including for travelling abroad, and registration of civil status.^{[Note 73: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2014-15: Ukraine, 56-57.]}

In July 2015, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted several draft laws^{[Note 74: #2982 on state registration of property rights to real estate and their liens; #2983 on state registration of legal persons, individual entrepreneurs, and civic formations;  #2984 on delegating functions of registration of place of residence, receiving information from the State Land Cadastre. ]} to decentralise certain services by delegating their provision to local self-government bodies. Regarding registration of vehicles and issuing of driver’s licenses, the government reported that it submitted the relevant draft law to the parliament.^{[Note 75: Draft law #2567 on service centres of the Ministry of Interior. It provided for the establishment of separate service provision centres under the ministry and stipulated decentralisation of the relevant function only starting from 2018. ]}

End of term: Substantial

Since the progress report, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a number of draft laws mentioned above: #2982 (State Registration of Property Rights) and #2983 (State Registration of Legal Persons) were adopted in November 2015 and enacted in December 2015; and #2984 (Delegating Registration Functions from the State Land Cadastre) was adopted and enacted in December 2015. Draft law #2567 (Decentralize Vehicle Registration Service Centres) was adopted in the first reading in July 2015. Finally, the Ministry of Justice developed a draft law to reform the system of registration of civil status acts.

Did it open government?

14. Streamline payment of administrative fees

Access to Information: Did not change

Civic Participation: Did not change

Public Accountability: Did not change

The commitment’s relevance to OGP values was unclear. While it represented an important step toward ensuring better public service provision, it was not clear how its implementation would lead to improved access to information, better civic participation, or greater public accountability. The commitment was an incremental step in the right direction toward decentralising services, but did not produce major changes.

16. Decentralise administrative services

Access to Information: Did not change

Civic Participation: Did not change

Public Accountability: Did not change

This commitment did not result in changes in government practice relevant to the OGP values of access to information, civic participation, or public accountability. Decentralisation of administrative services is viewed as important to reducing national level corruption in Ukraine, and improving public accountability, since local authorities are now responsible for the quality of service provision. Since 2014, Ukrainian authorities have implemented a number of reforms to devolve powers and responsibilities to the local level. In line with the commitment, laws were passed to decentralise the following services: state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and citizens’ associations; registration of real estate possession rights and their encumbrances; entry and issuance of data from the State Land Cadastre; issuing of ID documents; state registration of land plots; and registration of residence (stay). However, not all of the new legal provisions have been implemented. According to the civil society expert, for various technical and logistical reasons, there is effectively no decentralisation of the following services: issuing of IDs, including passports to travel abroad (local self-government bodies and Administrative Service Provision Centres have the right to install relevant equipment, but this has been done only in few cities across Ukraine); state registration of land plots; and entry and issuance of data from the State Land Cadastre.^{[Note 76: Interview with Viktor Tymoshchuk, NGO Centre for Political and Legal Reforms.]}

Carried forward?

Commitment 14, to streamline payment of administrative fees, was not carried over to the new action plan. Commitment 16, to decentralise administrative services, was carried forward partially. The new commitment provides measures to delegate to local self-government bodies basic administrative services and/or their provision through Administrative Services Provision Centres. This regards the following services: issuing of national passports and passports for travelling abroad, state registration of land plots, entry and issuance of data from the State Land Cadastre, and state registration of civil status acts. The new action plan also seeks to create an information system to monitor the performance of those centres, and to execute an awareness-raising campaign for the provision of administrative services.