Committees round-up: Daily
07 February 2020, 18:01
There are /// bodies in focus of our committee scan today:
Committee on Law Enforcement
Keen relevance of the complete implementation of norms of international criminal and humanitarian law concerning prosecution for international crimes into Ukraine’s criminal code was amply discussed during a round table held by the committee on February 7 in harness with the Ukrainian Institute for the Future and NGO “The Centre for Civil Liberties”.
The event was widely attended by MPs, the diplomatic corps in Ukraine (including UN, OSCE SMM, ICRC, etc.), representatives from the presidential office, the cabinet of ministers, Ukraine’s foreign and defence ministries, the PG’s office, the SBU, Ukraine’s judiciary, Ukrainian and foreign human rights organizations (including the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Global Rights Compliance LLP (GRC)), specialised experts and scholars. All of them were earnestly called on by the committee chairman to strenuously participate in the ongoing discussion, address the pressing issues and take an active part in tackling the problems associated.
Participants of the event discussed the state of play in Ukraine’s international obligations regarding preventing legal and virtual impunity for committing international crimes in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
During the round table, there also took place a brief introductory presentation of the bill No.2689 amending Ukrainian law to the extent of implementing norms of international criminal and humanitarian law. In closing of the meeting, the conferees stressed an acute need to adopt this bill as soon as possible.
War veterans temporary committee of inquiry
The temporary committee of inquiry (TCI) on the legal status of war veterans arranged on February 6 an ample discussion regarding proper functioning of veterans hospitals.
The debaters strongly cautioned against possible suspending the hospitals’ work through carrying out the next stage of medical reform, driving these institutions into partial self-reliance. They also raised the issue of auditing these hospitals.
The discussion resulted in further convening a special roundtable on the topic. Presently, Ukraine enjoys 32 such hospitals, two of which are budgeted centrally. During the sitting, the committee also approved its operating plan for the third session of the 9th convocation Verkhovna Rada.
Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development
The committee has initiated before the Council of Europe a Strasbourg format debate on the conceptual foundations of the most relevant bills affecting the future constitutional reform in Ukraine.
According to this proposition, it is planned to hold a wide discussion on the topic in Strasbourg in mid-March 2020. Its agenda is to cover some draft bills on local self-government, possible launch of the institute of prefects in Ukraine and a draft law about the city of Kyiv - the capital of Ukraine.