On 1 July, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives became part of the conference ‘Comprehensive Reform of the Law Enforcement System as a Key Element of European Integration’, during which the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Law Enforcement Reform as a Part of the Security and Defence Sector of Ukraine for 2023–2027 and its Action Plan were under discussion.
The conference was attended by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine — Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Stefan Schleuning, Chargé d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, Rolf Holmboe, Head of the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine, representatives of the international community and civil society.
The first panel featured the performance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in wartime conditions. In this regard, the EU representatives reaffirmed their commitment to further support Ukraine in implementing reforms designed to make the law and order system more operational, accountable, and human-centred.
At the second panel, ‘Perspectives from Civil Society and International Partners’, Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the ‘Law and Order’ Area at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, stated that the Comprehensive Strategic Plan is a unique public policy document, since it covers not only institutional dimensions of law enforcement entities, but also a broader set of issues, including the rules and policies under which these agencies operate.
That is primarily because the Plan covers such matters as:
- enforcement of a consistent criminal policy;
- strategic priorities of law enforcement entities;
- simplification of procedural rules (amendments to the criminal procedure);
- reinforcement of the coordination role and extent of the prosecutor’s discretion in criminal proceedings, etc., i.e. criminal law instruments applied by the prosecutor and investigator in criminal prosecutions.
Yevhen Krapyvin additionally mentioned that two years have passed since the President of Ukraine approved the Comprehensive Strategic Plan, and almost a year since the Government approved the Action Plan. In fact, over this time, we can attempt to weigh the progress of its implementation. However, given the measures’ complex structure and multi-level nature, a separate implementation mechanism should exist. To this end, a two-tiered Coordination Council is to be established shortly to oversee the assessment of the Action Plan.
