During February-July, the Committee held 8 meetings, considered 144 issues, 23 of them in the order of control.
As a result of consideration of the bills prepared by the Committee, the Verkhovna Rada adopted 4 bills, 2 adopted as a basis; recommited – 2; rejected and withdrew from consideration – 19. Prepared for consideration in the first reading – 57 bills; in the second reading – 6.
In particular, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, on 14 May 2013, Law No. 228-VII “On amendments to article 263-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime” implemented into national legislation the provision of Protocol that supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organize Crime.
The Law suggests amendments to article 2631 of chapter IX of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Crimes against public safety” that establish criminal responsibility for counterfeiting, illegal removal or change of marking.
Adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, on 18 April 2013, Law No. 221-VII “On amendments to several legislative acts of Ukraine re bringing national legislation in line with the Convention against Corruption” fulfilled recommendations given to Ukraine by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
Adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, on 18 April 2013, Law No. 221-VII “On amendments to the Criminal and the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine (re the EU-Ukraine Visa Liberalization Action Plan)” supplements the current Criminal Code with new articles 96? “Special confiscation” and 96? “Cases of special confiscation”.
The legislative act brings norms of current legislation of Ukraine in line with the provisions of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173), ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 18 October 2006, regarding the implementation procedures for the confiscation of property and income derived from corruption and implementing measures forseen by the EU-Ukraine Visa Liberalization Action Plan.
On May 23, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law No. 314-VII “On Amendments to Several Legislative Acts of Ukraine (re implementation of the EU Visa Liberalization Action Plan for Ukraine regarding liability of legal persons)”.
During the reporting period, the Committee held a series of hearings, round table discussions and other events, where the following issues were considered: legislative support of law enforcement; issues of application of legislation in the field of road safety; legal mechanisms to combat poaching.
In order of control, the Committee analysed the status of implementation of legislative acts by the General Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences, tax police and other law enforcement agencies. On 22 May 2013, the Committee discussed the question "On the practice of the implementation of laws of Ukraine, related to the subject matter jurisdiction of the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement."
Issue of humanization of the criminal justice system through the introduction of probation and implementation of the Criminal Procedure Code re introduction of criminal offenses is topical in the activity of the Committee.
With the beginning of the seventh convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, the Committee received 894 appeals from citizens, 188 – from legal persons. A range of them were considered by the Committee, as the a result it received answers from the General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Justice, prosecutor’s offices of Kyiv, Donetsk, and Kharkiv Oblast.
The Chairmanship of the Committee held a range of meetings, particularly, with experts of the Council of Europe within the project “Support of reform of the criminal justice system in Ukraine”, with the delegation of Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), with the Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia David Diaz-Jogeix, ambassador, with the Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Ukraine Vladimir Ristovsky.
During the second session, the Committee continued cooperation with the office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, particularly, the conclusions were received re compliance of the bill on the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine and a range of bills that were under consideration with European legislation.
Members of the Committee and representatives of secretariat actively participated in conferences, seminars on issues related to the subject matter jurisdiction of the Committee.