Violations of the Rules of Procedure in the Work of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th Convocation during the 13th Session

Summary of the Unit

1. During the 13th session, the share of violations of the Rules of Procedure in the adoption of laws remained high: approximately 61% of laws were adopted with violations.
2. The share of violations in the second reading of draft laws increased compared to the 11th and 12th sessions.
3. The overall share of violations of the constitutional timeframe (15 days) for signing laws by the President during the 13th session reached a record 47% for the 9th convocation. The deadline for signing (or submitting proposals) was violated for 51 laws, and another five laws were neither signed, nor vetoed.

The scale of violations of the legislative procedure during the 13th session remained high. The overall share of draft laws adopted with violations is lower than in the 12th session (66%), in particular due to fewer violations in the first reading. At the same time, the number of violations in the second reading continued to increase.

This section provides information on violations of the Rules of Procedure in the adoption of laws during the 13th session.

The 13th session showed a partial increase in violations in most categories, although a significant decrease was recorded in breaches of the deadlines for submitting committee opinions for the first reading. The procedures for the consideration of approximately 61% (almost two-thirds) of laws contained violations during the 13th session.

Violation of the Rules of Procedure

During the 13th session, the dynamics of the frequency of violations of the Rules of Procedure varied depending on whether it was the first or second reading. For the first reading, the share of violations decreased compared to the 11th and 12th sessions when looking at the deadlines for opinions of the main committees. As for the other two violations of the first reading procedure, there were no significant changes compared to the 12th session.

For the second reading, the share of violations of the Rules of Procedure increased for all three types of violations tracked at this stage. The scale of violations in both the first and second readings still exceeds the level of violations before the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The increase in the share of violations in the second reading has been observed for three consecutive sessions, which is a negative trend.

In the graphs and the table, the data show the share of draft laws adopted with violations of the Rules of Procedure, presented by sessions.

Violations of Rules of Procedure Concerning Adopted Laws in the Verkhovna Rada

Type of violation Unlike previous reports, this monitoring report presents data on violations related to vetoed and non-vetoed draft laws in a single table.	Provision of the Rules of Procedure	Total number of laws checked for violations	Number of laws with violations
Opinion of the committee for the first reading (absence of such opinions or violation of the deadlines set for familiarisation with these opinions before their consideration in the session hall).	An opinion shall be provided 7 days before the consideration of the draft law in the session hall at the first reading.	119	37 (31.1%) violations, 37 — violations of the deadlines, including 4 cases where the draft law was adopted on the same day the opinion was provided. All opinions are available.
Opinion of the MSED for the first reading The Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada do not contain a direct and clear requirement regarding the mandatory nature of opinions of the MSED. Alongside Article 103(4), which provides that in the absence of opinions within 14 days there are deemed to be no comments, there are also provisions requiring MSED opinions: 1) Article 112 establishes that accompanying documents to a draft law shall be provided to MPs no later than seven days before the day of consideration of the draft law at a plenary sitting of the Verkhovna Rada. 2) Article 99(2)(3) provides that expert opinions on a draft law form part of the accompanying documents. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada are imperfect and contain contradictory provisions. For example, the MSED may provide an opinion after the 14-day deadline (due to workload), and in such a case, it is unclear what the main committee should do — treat the absence of timely opinions as meaning there are no comments or consider the comments submitted after the deadline. (absence of such opinions or violation of the deadlines set for familiarisation with these opinions before their consideration in the session hall).	An opinion shall be provided 7 days before the consideration of the draft law in the session hall at the first reading.	119	22 (18.5%) violations of the deadlines. All opinions are available.
Comparative table after the first reading (absence of the comparative table or preparation of such a table within deadlines that do not allow all entities to submit their amendments within the time limits established by the Rules of Procedure).	Proposals and amendments shall be submitted to the table no earlier than 14 days after the adoption of the draft law in the first reading, or 7 days in case of shortened timeframes.	77 (draft laws adopted in the second reading)	No violations of the deadlines. All comparative tables are available.
Opinions of the MLD (absence of MLD opinions or violation of the deadlines set for familiarisation with these opinions before their consideration in the session hall).	Comments of the MLD shall be submitted 10 days before the consideration of the draft law in the session hall at the second reading, or 5 days in case of shortened timeframes.	77 (draft laws adopted in the second reading)	50 (65%) violations of the deadlines. All opinions are available The opinion of the Main Legal Department (MLD) was absent for the draft state budget, but this was not considered a violation due to the established practice of the absence of MLD opinions on budgets in different years. .
Opinion of the committee for the second reading (absence of committee opinions or violation of the deadlines set for familiarisation with these opinions before their consideration in the session hall).	Committee opinions for the second reading are submitted 10 days before the consideration of the draft law in the session hall at the second reading, or 5 days in case of shortened timeframes.	77 (draft laws adopted in the second reading)	51 (66%) violations of the deadlines. Committee opinions are available for all laws.
Comparative table for the second reading (absence of the comparative table or violation of the deadlines set for familiarisation with these tables before their consideration in the session hall).	Tables must be submitted 10 days before the consideration of the draft law in the session hall at the second reading, or 5 days in case of shortened timeframes.	77 (draft laws adopted in the second reading)	49 (63.5%) violations of the deadlines. All tables are available.

Violation of the Constitution Regarding the Deadline for Signing Laws

In addition to ordinary violations of the Rules of Procedure, monitoring was carried out of violations of the Constitution in terms of the 15-day deadline for the President to sign adopted laws (Article 94 of the Constitution). The monitoring covered 119 laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the 13th session. The signing deadline (or submission of proposals) was violated for 51 laws, i.e., in 43% of cases (in the 12th session, the share was 35%). In addition, five laws were neither signed by the President, nor vetoed, nor received proposals (although the deadline for their signing had already expired). Taken together, these violations amounted to 47% There was also a violation of the deadline for the President of Ukraine to sign the draft law vetoed in the 13th session — No. 12073 of 27 September 2024. Although the President submitted proposals on time after its adoption in the second reading, the law was signed in breach of the deadline after being re-adopted with the President’s proposals. of all laws adopted during the 13th session, which is higher than in the 11th (45%) and 12th (44%) sessions. Thus, almost half of all laws adopted during the 13th session breached the deadlines established by the Constitution of Ukraine A violation of the signing deadline also occurred with the repeatedly vetoed draft law No. 11150 of 4 April 2024, which was not included in the monitoring as its adoption and first veto took place during the 11th session. .

Of course, it does not matter whether the deadline was missed by two days or 102 days — in both cases, it constitutes a violation. Nevertheless, if we look at record-holders in this regard, the longest signing period was 163 days The record-holder for signing time is Draft Law No. 12271 On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings” on State Support and Economic Recovery of the Rocket and Space Industry under Martial Law of 2 December 2024. .

Violations of the constitutional procedure began to increase with the introduction of martial law. If in the 7th session (the first six months of martial law) violations accounted for 16.4%, then, over the next six sessions, their number almost tripled. In the 13th session, the scale of violations of the constitutional procedure reached the highest level of the 9th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. The volume of violations during the 13th session remains quite high and, by most indicators, higher than in the previous two sessions. These violations cannot be explained by shortcomings in normative or procedural rules According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the President has 15 days to sign a law and officially promulgate it, or to return it with his reasoned and formulated proposals to Parliament. At the decision of the President, the Government organises an expert review of the law submitted for signature. According to the Rules of Procedure of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Government has a maximum of seven days to submit its proposals regarding the signing of the law by the President or reasoned and substantiated proposals on the expediency of the President exercising the right of veto. The time spent on preparing generalised comments and proposals depends both on the scope and complexity of the law and on other factors — the day of the week and time when the copy of the law was received, the number of ministries involved in the review, differences in their positions regarding the adopted law, internal bureaucratic procedures in the ministries, technical reasons, etc. Any combination of these factors may delay the Government’s submission of proposals on the law and, accordingly, the President’s decision to sign the law or return it to Parliament. , as the relevant provisions have not changed.

During the 13th session, the President promptly (within the 15-day deadline) vetoed and submitted proposals to two draft laws. The Verkhovna Rada has so far considered only one of them (No. 12073 of 27 September 2024), which was re-adopted with the President’s proposals and signed in violation of the deadline established by the Constitution of Ukraine.

One of the two vetoed draft laws was initiated by representatives of the Servant of the People faction, and the other was initiated by an MP from the Platform for Life and Peace group.