Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, announced that together with People´s Deputies of Ukraine Viacheslav Kyrylenko and Vasyl Kravchuk he had registered the bill "On Amendments to the Standing Orders of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine" (regarding order of submitting the texts of bills and accompanying documents to the People´s Deputies) (Reg. No. 9262).
The bill amends clauses 92 and 98 of the Standing Orders of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Namely, the bill obliges the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat to include the texts of the registered bills and accompanying documents in the database of the electronic computer network of the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a two-day term (the norm is currently effective, but it fixes no deadlines). The bill reads that texts and accompanying documents are submitted to the People´s Deputies of Ukraine only before the scrutiny at the plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the current norm reads that texts of all bills and accompanying documents are printed on paper and submitted to the People´s Deputies in a five-day term after their registration).
He reminded that under the effective Law of Ukraine "On the Standing Orders of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine" texts of each bill with accompanying documents, conclusions, expert opinions, and other documents are printed on paper and distributed among the People´s Deputies. However, a great number of paper-printed materials for the People´s Deputies (bills, explanatory notes, and conclusions) are usually thrown out.
The authors of the bill emphasizes the all People´s Deputies of Ukraine have computer support and are provided with the necessary office equipment and free access to the database. They can print the necessary documents by themselves if needed, so printing and copying of documents has no practical sense and causes extra expenses (paper ink tanks etc). Thus the authors are convinced that the texts and accompanying documents shall be submitted to the deputies only before their scrutiny at the plenary meeting.
The Deputy Chairman reminded that this issue was raised by People´s Deputies of all factions and mass media. The politician explained that the suggested bill is only the first step towards solution of the problem.