Today, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk took part in a scientific and practical roundtable: “The Law of Ukraine “On Lawmaking” as a Mechanism for Improving the Lawmaking Process in Ukraine”.
The event was devoted to the specifics of implementing the provisions of the Law “On Lawmaking” adopted by the Parliament on 24 August 2023 for their best implementation in the national legal framework. The discussion was attended by representatives of the Government, the Supreme Court, leading lawyers and academics.
In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine thanked all those present for the opportunity to discuss the further implementation of the Law in practice, as well as for the involvement of many of those present in the development and elaboration of the document. He also called it symbolic that such a discussion is taking place on the days when Ukraine celebrates the 314th anniversary of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk.
During the discussion, Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasised that the Parliament had done a great job in adopting this document to lay down a comprehensive and fundamental approach to improving legislative work.
He also emphasised that while developing the concept of the Law, the Parliament significantly expanded the approach to its creation.
“We went the other way and decided that the Law should cover activities that accompany the creation, adoption, monitoring, implementation and improvement of a specific facility. This Law has become broader than a regular legal act,” said the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament.
He also dwelled on the issue of legal monitoring, stressing that in this aspect, the Parliament should move to a full-fledged legal assessment of legal acts and evaluation of the effectiveness of their implementation.
Ruslan Stefanchuk also touched upon the task of optimising the institutional capacity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. He said that today the Parliament already has a Research Service and an Office for Support of Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law.
“However, in order to increase the institutional capacity, it is advisable to establish the Office of Lawmaking – for a unified approach to drafting each bill and avoiding legislative “spam” – and the Budget Office – an analytical centre to strengthen parliamentary control over the budget process in Ukraine,” said the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament.
In addition, he focused on the issues of recodification, decodification and other types of legislative systematisation, noting that this is an important component of lawmaking and an important prerequisite for its quality.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also mentioned the use of IT technologies to optimise the lawmaking work of the Parliament, especially in the area of information databases and registers.
“Today, the vast majority of information we receive is not from papers but from relevant electronic resources. Therefore, we must clearly understand which of them are informational and how to work with them. And this should become a skill for those who apply a particular legal act,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
He also noted that the Parliament actively uses the latest trends in its lawmaking activities. As an example, he cited the process of foresighting, when the Parliament considers “the prospects for legislative regulation that may exist, but which are also the result of monitoring and joint research with scientists.”
In conclusion, the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine expressed his deep conviction that this legislative act, this “Constitution of Rulemaking”, will determine how Ukraine will live in the future: “Because we are a state governed by the rule of law. And law is a prerequisite and result of lawmaking, among other things.”
For reference: The Law “On Lawmaking” regulates the main issues of lawmaking at all stages, defines the principles and functions of lawmaking, the hierarchy of legal acts, individual stages of the lawmaking process, etc. The Act has already entered into force, but will be enacted in one year from the date of termination or cancellation of martial law in Ukraine.