The Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held a Round Table Discussion "Authorities of the People's Deputies of Ukraine as the Representatives of the Ukrainian People at The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine"
18 February 2011, 16:15
The round table discussion was held with the participation of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, People´s Deputies of Ukraine and
deputies of the Parliament of Great Britain.
The attendants discussed the conditions and tools for the fulfillment of official authorities by the representatives in parliament as the members of factions and committees, during the work with the voters, and at the parliamentary and committee hearings.
Opening the discussion, Vasyl Kyseliov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stressed that the topic of authorities of the People´s Deputies of Ukraine as the representatives of the Ukrainian people at The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and their legislative support was essential both for the Ukrainian Parliament, and for the public.
In the Ukrainian Parliament, People´s Deputies usually bring forward 85% of the total number of bills submitted by the subjects of legislative initiative, which differs drastically from the law-making work of the British Parliament, where most bills are initiated by the Government.
The attendants of the round table discussion stated that the public demand for the access to the law-making process and implementation of the constitutional authorities by the Parliament was growing. It is reflected by the increasing number of appeals to the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Representatives of the British Parliament dwelled upon the relations between the parliament members and the party in the law-making activity, the work with controversial legislation,
public
expectations from the MPs,
search
of a balance between the representation of partisan and public interests, and the methods to achieve this balance.
The participants also discussed the issues of consultancy in law-, and policy-making, British experience of the committee hearings and initiation of the bills by individual parliament members. They focused on the implementation of the laws by the Government, work of the supervisory committees, and ratification of the committee reports.