Andriy Parubiy (to Rada TV channel): “This plenary week has been the time of taking hosts of advanced laws, and it has also made December the 25th to be another red letter day for Ukraine".
On home rule, anti-raider, telemedicine and new red letter day enactments
This week has brought seven bills taken on the second reading and nine ones on the first, two of which are of note indeed.
They both concern the home rule issues – on urban development activities and on merging of suburban communities allowing it to gather a dozen of new territorial communities in Ukraine.
There has also been taken (three hundred odd yea votes) an anti-raider law reframing the entire legal institute of search and seizure of property from property (enterprise) owners during pre-trial investigations, and reinforcing their level of protection against law enforcement with unclean hands. In particular, the act provides for compulsory filming (audio and video) an investigative action of search, making the film here-at to be an integral part of the search record. The law is also to entitle a defence team to film the action of search independently.
Then there has
been adopted quite a progressive bill No.7117: “On Telemedicine”. The
regulatory act defines juristic, organizational and governing parameters and criteria
for development of rural health care in order to provide guaranteed equal
access to high-grade medical (community) services.
Another novelty was the
draft bill No.5496: “The Law of Ukraine “On amendments to Article 73 of the
Labour Code of Ukraine on official holidays and non-working days”. The law
makes December the 25th to be an official holiday in Ukraine (the
Nativity of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar). The enactment also
kills the 2nd of May as a red-letter day, referring to May the 1st
as Labour Day (May Day) solely.
On state budget
There must be provisions
for every inch of life in the next year budget, however what should be pushed
to the fore is security and defence. In his interview to Rada TV channel, the
Chairman stated it had already been two years in a row as the Parliament stuck
to the budgetary procedure, going the full ride as requested by the national
law. The next budget year shall bring a hike in a floor wage, rise in wages for
teachers and medics, yielding the palm per say to security and defence items -- preliminarily amounting to UAH 164 billion which tops the last year
figure by UAH 20 billion.
On medicine, housing and public utilities, and social protection to revolutionists
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy signed on Friday three emblematic for society laws concerning the medical reform, housing and public utility services, and social protection for the Dignity Revolution participants.
The bill No.6327 concerned the state financial guarantees for delivering medical services to people. Signing of the law has green-lighted the launch of the medical reform.
The next one was
the draft bill No.1581-d -- “The Law of Ukraine “On housing and public utility
services”. The bill governs relationship arising from providing and consuming
the housing and public utility services. The law seems to be quite advanced and
innovative.
And the last one was the draft bill No.5697: “On status of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes”. The enactment confers the status of “an injured Dignity Revolution participant” on persons who took part in the mass public protests in Ukraine from November 21, 2013 till February 21, 2014 for the sake of the European integration and against the corrupt regime established by former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. Given that under the law of Ukraine “On state assistance to persons injured in mass civic protests and their families” the above persons (i) have been put on the list of persons injured (at any severity) during the Dignity Revolution, and (ii) had appealed for medical aid within the period from November 21, 2013 till April 30, 2014, the persons in question are to be granted the benefits stipulated for combatants.