The preparation and presentation of Parliament Journal is part of the project embodied by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
Press briefing “Presentation of the Policy Paper ‘Proposals Concerning Policy on Conflict of Interests of MPs of Ukraine’”
The paper was presented by MP Serhiy Leshchenko, Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, and Ulyana Poltavets, author of the study, Program Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.
“This briefing organized in cooperation with the Agency for Legislative Initiatives is dedicated to the notion that lies at the heart of political corruption, this is especially true for parliament. This notion is a conflict of interests, that is, the phenomenon when people who have business in the area they regulate as officials are elected to parliament or to a public office. A typical example is Mr. Dubnevych, Chairman of the VRU Committee on Transport, who has business in the field of supply to Ukrzaliznytsia. That is, on the one hand, he chairs the Committee and, therefore, can influence Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ministry of Infrastructure and his deputies; and, on the other hand, he supplies equipment and is making a lot of money, which makes it possible for him to capitalize, design his political projects, engage in acts of corruption, and so on. I know that the Anti-Corruption Bureau has launched an inquiry into some of his affairs.
Why does it happen? Because we do not have any safeguards against conflicts of interest, although it is much easier to keep such people out of office than to investigate their actions, study their schemes, spend investigator resources, resources for travel to offshore zones and abroad to collect documentation, press charges, and spend years in court to punish these corruptors and confiscate stolen money in the future (possibly!). It is easier to prevent them from access to these positions. If you chair a committee, you should engage in something else in life. Dubnevych is a specialist in transport, he has a transport business, let him deal with issues of culture or spirituality, for example, or youth and sports. That is a sphere that has nothing to do with his personal business. This is precisely how European politicians are appointed to positions to avoid conflicts of interest. We are implementing the same initiative in parliament so that we could use a draft law, a Code of Conduct to bar politicians with conflicts of interest from holding public offices in the area of their private business interests”
Why does it happen? Because we do not have any safeguards against conflicts of interest, although it is much easier to keep such people out of office than to investigate their actions, study their schemes, spend investigator resources, resources for travel to offshore zones and abroad to collect documentation, press charges, and spend years in court to punish these corruptors and confiscate stolen money in the future (possibly!). It is easier to prevent them from access to these positions. If you chair a committee, you should engage in something else in life. Dubnevych is a specialist in transport, he has a transport business, let him deal with issues of culture or spirituality, for example, or youth and sports. That is a sphere that has nothing to do with his personal business. This is precisely how European politicians are appointed to positions to avoid conflicts of interest. We are implementing the same initiative in parliament so that we could use a draft law, a Code of Conduct to bar politicians with conflicts of interest from holding public offices in the area of their private business interests”
“We want to present our proposals for a policy on conflicts of interests of MPs of Ukraine. This is a continuation and analytical lead-in of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives to the work on adoption of the Code of Conduct in the Ukrainian Parliament. Settlement of conflicts of interest is one of the main cross-cutting issues that will make it possible to overcome corruption as well as provide an important safeguard. This analytical material with concrete proposals, which Ulyana Poltavets will elaborate on, is handed out to MPs, faction leaders and, in fact, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. As an organization that cooperates with numerous international foundations and donors, such as USAID, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, OSCE/ODIHR, we urge to adopt the Code of Conduct in Parliament with a list of so-called safeguards, possibly even including penalties, since it is the only thing that will help Ukraine get out of this corruption pit mentioned previously by Mr. Leshchenko”
“Parliament’s role in combating corruption is not limited to adopting anti-corruption laws. First of all, a democratic parliament must conform to its own standards of openness and transparency. Of course, the main obstacle to adhering to these principles is MPs’ conflicts of interests. The Ukrainian parliamentary practice abounds in examples when a representative of a particular industry is a member or the head of the specialized parliamentary committee. According to the analysis of the 2016 electronic declarations of 422 MPs of Ukraine of the 8th convocation, 131 MPs (31%) have equity rights, and 108 MPs (25.6%) are the final beneficiaries of legal entities. At the same time, the analysis revealed that 38 MPs have a conflict of interests, including two chairpersons of committees (Chairperson of the VRU Committee on Health Care and Chairperson of the VRU Committee on Transport). The record holders in terms of the number of members with conflicts of interests are the Committee on Agrarian Policy (20 MPs) and the Committee on Construction, Urban Development and Housing and Communal Services (7 MPs). Some enterprises may belong to family members rather than MPs themselves, which anyway is contrary to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”: rights cannot be transferred to the benefit of family members.
Given the above, it is advisable to introduce a comprehensive conflict-of-interest policy. In particular, it is proposed to clarify the provisions regarding the inadmissibility of MPs’ business activity and availability of equity rights, by aligning the Commercial Code and the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”. Another extremely important element, according to Ms. Matviienko, is the adoption of the Code of Conduct, which would take into account MPs’ opinions and best international practices. A separate element of the legislative regulation of conflicts of interest is the adoption of a law on lobbying. The NAPC as the main tool for managing conflicts of interest should begin to operate independently and impartially.
This study attests to the need to include the issue of conflicts of interest in the political agenda. We hope that MPs, and in particular the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the Committee on Rules of Procedure, will take this into account and, in cooperation with the NAPC, will manage to implement an effective comprehensive policy on conflict of interests”
Given the above, it is advisable to introduce a comprehensive conflict-of-interest policy. In particular, it is proposed to clarify the provisions regarding the inadmissibility of MPs’ business activity and availability of equity rights, by aligning the Commercial Code and the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”. Another extremely important element, according to Ms. Matviienko, is the adoption of the Code of Conduct, which would take into account MPs’ opinions and best international practices. A separate element of the legislative regulation of conflicts of interest is the adoption of a law on lobbying. The NAPC as the main tool for managing conflicts of interest should begin to operate independently and impartially.
This study attests to the need to include the issue of conflicts of interest in the political agenda. We hope that MPs, and in particular the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the Committee on Rules of Procedure, will take this into account and, in cooperation with the NAPC, will manage to implement an effective comprehensive policy on conflict of interests”
Preparation of the analytical materials is a part of a project implemented by the NGO Agency of Legislative Initiatives with the support of USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by East Europe Foundation.
Proposals for the Policy Concerning Supporting Documents in the Legislative Process (Policy Paper)
Ukrainian MPs and the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada suffer from the «legislative spam». The best way to solve the problem is to improve the mechanism of preparing accompanying documents, in particular explanatory memorandum. For the moment it is a formal requirement which influences neither the procedure of passing a bill nor stakeholders’ opinions. But if we change the role of explanatory memorandum, formalize its structure and introduce check lists into the Apparatus practices, it can remedy the situation regarding a huge number of bills. In addition, it can help to streamline the workflow of departments. In order to implement this option, it is needed to incorporate changes to the guidelines for legislation, in which it is necessary to define the role and structure of explanatory memorandum. Whether an explanatory memorandum meets requirements, legislators can check with the help of check list. Such method allows for examining the document according to the only structure, and it can be applied by employees with different levels of training.
Preparation of the analytical materials is a part of a project implemented by the NGO Agency of Legislative Initiatives with the support of USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by East Europe Foundation.
Specifics of civil service in the verkhovna rada of Ukraine
The issue focuses on the following questions: Does the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada meet the legislative body requirements for professional operational support of its activities? Should the Government as the executive branch determine the conditions for labor remuneration of parliamentary officials? Is the executive support service and other types of service sufficiently separated within the structure of the parliamentary service of the Verkhovna Rada? (for instance, there is an opinion that the secretariats of factions should also be included in the executive support service); Does the legislature have sufficient resources to recruit employees who meet professional requirements? Is the management of the Secretariat and the management of its structural units protected from political pressure? How is the behavior of parliamentary officials regulated (specifically, the issue of parliamentary officials’ integrity)?
The role and the functions of the parliamentary committees and factions
Implementation of Government’s program requires the adoption of bills drafted by the Government. The cooperation between Parliament and Government regarding the adoption of laws is one of the main issues. Such communication is mostly carried out in parliamentary committees due to the special role of committees in the modern legislative process. The document is devoted to the study of international practices in relation to the number of committees and ministries, as well as a brief overview of the forms of interaction between them. In addition, a summary of the varieties of parliamentary committees is collected.
The preparation and presentation of Parliament Journal is part of the project embodied by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
The Concept of the ‘End- to-End’ Legislative Process (Policy Paper)
Analysis of laws registered and adopted during the 4th and 5th sessions shows that during this period 1,506 draft laws were registered, of which the total of 187 (12%) were passed. The Parliament remains hostage of the “legislative tsunami” of parliamentary initiatives. The President continues being the most effective subject of legislative initiative (29 of the 30 registered initiatives adopted). While the governmental efficiency is 25% (63 of 252 registered drafts approved). At the same time, 50% of all approved draft laws are those of MPs.
Moreover, the ease with which MPs of Ukraine can enter draft laws, regular violations of parliamentary procedures, lack of an established practice of long-term planning or streamlined communication among actors of the legislative branch condition the general chaotic nature of policymaking. Initiating completely different – often inconsistent among themselves or with the government’s program – legislative initiatives a priori cannot ensure stable and gradual development of Ukraine in any certain direction.
Thus, development of an effective system for policy formulation, coordination, approval, evaluation, and revision remains an extremely important challenge both for political leadership, and for the Ukrainian society in general.
The proposed document contains an analysis of current practices, a review of international experience, and proposals for the legislative process reform concept “From End to End” with an emphasis on strengthening coordination among subjects of legislative initiative. This is what is discussed in the first recommendation of the Roadmap on the Internal Reform and Enhancement of Institutional Capacity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, prepared by the European Parliament need assessment mission chaired by Pat Cox.
Preparation of the analytical materials is a part of a project implemented by the NGO Agency of Legislative Initiatives with the support of USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by East Europe Foundation.
Proposals to Ensure Gender Equality in the Ukrainian Parliament (Policy Paper)
Implementation of the policy of equal rights and opportunities for men and women always serves as an indicator of ethics, transparency, and readiness to democratic transformations, and the Ukrainian parliament takes important steps in this direction as is required by the international standards and the time.
The 8th Verkhovna Rada is different from the previous convocations not only by the biggest number of women among its members over the entire time of the Parliament’s existence, but also by the active promotion of “gender interests” in terms of the public policy making. And it is not by chance that the Verkhovna Rada gender sensitivity is on the agenda, as it is one of the main components of the parliamentary reform in accordance with the Pat Cox recommendations and the Jean Monnet Dialogues.
The gender sensitive parliament can be defined as an institution that meets the needs and interests of both men and women in its structure, operations, methods, and work generally. The aim of the gender sensitive parliament is to overcome the obstacles faced by women on the way to the full-fledged participation in politics, as well as to demonstrate a positive example and to define the model of opportunities for the society in general.
Analysis of the provisions governing the structure and methods of the parliamentary work is based on the proposals to amend the Verkhovna Rada Rules of Procedure in order to introduce the gender-based analysis of draft laws, instruments to counteract sexism and discrimination in the behaviour of the members of parliament, as well as to ensure the balanced representation of women and men in the Ukrainian parliament.
The preparation and presentation of Policy Proposals is part of the project embodied by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
International and Ukrainian experience of parliamentary internship programs
The work is dedicated to the topic of functioning and organization of internship programs in the Parliaments of the world. 20 countries with different levels of political and economic development and the European Parliament were researched. All the programs have in common the target group: mainly young people under 30, university graduates and young professionals. The analysis of internship programs has shown that the main goals of their functioning are creation of career opportunities for talented youth and formation of the human resources for the apparatus of parliaments and other state authorities. Internship programs also serve as a factor in enhancing the prestige and attractiveness of the civil service for young people.
Another section is dedicated to the internship programs that are functioning in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The research mentions unofficial programs (commercial and free) and the official Parliamentary Internship Program, which works since 1995.
The analysis and conclusions conducted in the research can be used for implementation of the best international practices for the development of Parliamentary Internship Program in the Verkhovna Rada.
The preparation and presentation of Parliament Journal is part of the project embodied by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
Oksana Syroyid’s Lecture “Legality for Legislators”
Lecturer: Oksana Syroid, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
More than 40 participants took part in the event: students of Kyiv universities (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, National Pedagogical Dragomanov University), graduates of the Verkhovna Rada Internship Program, MPs’ aids, and representatives of NGOs.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
Tetiana BIBIK, Deputy Director of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, outlined the opportunities provided by the RADA Youth Program, focusing on the tools and mechanisms of the Program that promote parliamentary reform, such as the service of electronic petitions, the portal for public discussion of draft laws, the internship program in the Verkhovna Rada as well as educational components for youth.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
“Disseminating information on the activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Government, as well as on available mechanisms for communication of civil society and authorities, we are trying to strengthen the public control over these institutions by increasing the monitoring capacity of NGOs and active youth. It is necessary to do this because the not-so-pleasant image of the government created in the media due to the statements and actions of some politicians dramatically diminishes trust in the authorities. However, people who represent the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, VRU secretariat, committees, and committee secretariats do not deserve such a low level of trust. This is exactly why we organize such events in order to raise awareness about what is actually happening in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine”
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
Oksana SYROYID, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Why do people unite in states?
The state emerges as a social contract between people in order to protect three fundamental rights: life, liberty, and property. In natural circumstances that precede the state, a person cannot individually enforce these rights.
Why do people need government authorities?
People can protect their fundamental rights only by imposing penalties for their encroachment. For example, the protection of the right to life is ensured through the delegation of representatives to the relevant bodies that, on behalf of the people and in the interests of the entire society, establish what a crime is and how it should be punished. Courts must ensure that the fundamental rights and rights derived from them be protected in accordance with laws adopted on behalf of the people.
When we create a state and delegate our rights to it, we must maintain it. To ensure protection of our rights, we allocate resources and create a government.
The function of the government is to collect and redistribute people’s money. Governments have no function other than that. They have to redistribute the funds in such a way as to perform the functions of the state and ensure fulfillment of what people agreed upon. The government is closed by its nature; under such conditions, it is very convenient to spend money.
Therefore, an extremely important function of the parliament is to control how the government collects and distributes money.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
When does the parliamentary control over the government emerge?
The prime minister reads a report in parliament: Can we view it as a kind of control over the government? Perhaps we cannot. Both the current and the previous Prime Minister actually believe that just by coming to the Parliament and telling something from the rostrum, they report on their work.
The Ukrainian Parliament does not fulfill its control function and cannot fulfill it because it does not know what the government spends money on.
A vivid example of the government’s non-transparency is the vote on the state budget. The lack of a detailed budget, various inherent preferences, and non-transparency give rise to the phenomenon of the budget night when MPs vote for the state budget at night because they do not trust each other. Since everything is non-transparent and described in “broad-brush terms”, MPs sit at the table and agree on the allocation of funds. If they go to sleep, overnight, all arrangements may be reshuffled and in the morning everyone can come up with new wishes. That is why they vote for the budget “hot on the trail”.
This will continue until there is a detailed and very specific budget.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
How do people in power make money?
The people who were in power in the first years of independence created a number of preferences for themselves:
– privatization and management of state-owned enterprises;
– non-transparent extraction of natural resources;
– non-transparent government contracts (budget).
These are the origins of the oligarchic economy of the 1990s.
Corrupt schemes will continue to function until people start to control their money themselves. The first step to this objective is local self-government that teaches people to manage their money and resources.
The next step should be personal tax payment. People seem to believe that the state gives them money without realizing that in reality it is they who maintain the state.
Taxes are a tool that guarantees the state unity and the quality of state institutions. The only mechanism for ensuring the payment of taxes is the inevitability of punishment for a failure to pay them.
The state will cease to exist if people stop paying taxes and controlling how their money is spent.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
The quality of the Constitution and the quality of laws
The statement that we have one of the best constitutions in the world is a myth.
From laws people expect information on how they should regulate their behavior and predict consequences for themselves and others in case of non-compliance. If a law meets these requirements, it is of high-quality.
People suffer because of the state. Laws are written to protect people from violations by the authorities and to curb the state’s tyranny.
Laws have to protect human rights and must contain information about the responsible authority that should protect these rights and specify the ways to do this. A law is bad if it does not contain these elements.
Laws are voted in violation of the procedure; laws are not discussed beforehand. The process of voting laws as a whole has many defects; laws adopted based on this principle always contain a lot of mistakes. The main research and expert administration might be politically biased and dependent.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
Key tips for young people:
- always look for the nature of things;
- always ask “Why?”
- never take anything at face value;
- study philosophy, think.
Photographer: Oleksandr Kovalenko
The event was organized by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives together with the Internews Ukraine and the Interns’ League, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
Policy Proposals on the Conflict of Interest in the Ukrainian Parliament
This paper studies the concept of conflict of interest (COI) in the Verkhovna Rada, as well as proposes the possible ways to manage it and to introduce a policy thereon. The analysis has revealed that 9% of Ukrainian MPs may have a conflict of interest, but the dispersed legislation, lack of a coherent COI policy, insufficient sanctions, and the inert oversight bodies make it impossible not only to resolve the existing conflicts, but also to prevent the potential ones. The nature of the parliamentary representative function implies existence of certain conflicts of interest, therefore it is extremely important to avert them and to ensure the inevitability of punishment for violation of the existing norms and measures through the use of a comprehensive policy.
The preparation and presentation of Policy Proposals is part of the project embodied by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, supported by the USAID Rada Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.
Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, on Channel 5
In her interview with Olha Snitsarchuk on Channel 5, Svitlana Matviienko, Chairwoman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, analyzed the annual address of the President of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada, focusing on the issues of lifting MPs’ immunity, CEC problems, the war, and the Minsk agreements.
Apart from that, Svitlana presented the analytical report “Code of Ethics: Structure, Content, and Subject Matter. Realities and Proposals for Codification”, which generalizes discussions concerning the idea of creating a code of ethics for Ukrainian parliamentarians, as well as the codification of all current rules governing MPs’ behavior.
