Parliamentary reform

The main challenge for parliamentary reform is replacement of steps aiming at improvement the quality of the legislative process with steps that are popular from an electoral point of view. Such popular steps can bring short-term dividends in the form of a temporary rating increase. However, in the long run they will not solve the problems of the legislative process. Legislative spam (not in the form of a large number of amendments, but in the form of a large number of low-quality bills), unbalanced laws, their low quality, ineffective control over the executive branch cannot be resolved by reducing the number of deputies or abolishing parliamentary immunity.

Such substitution reduces the number of discussions on important reforms, including the recommendations of the Reforms Roadmap. As a result, important reforms are not on the political agenda and are not implemented.

Another related challenge is the problem of planning. If there is a plan to "reform the parliament", it is based on the President's electoral promises. The purpose of electoral promises is to win elections, they are based on electoral logic, not on the needs of the parliament. This also applies to the issue of updating the Reforms Roadmap. Qualitative reform begins with identifying problems and needs, followed by the creation of a reform plan. Such a process should lead to an update of the Reforms Roadmap.

The existence of a parliamentary majority of one party is a challenge. This situation is unusual for neither Ukrainian nor world realities. It is a challenge because a one-party coalition does not need to develop either the institution of building an inter-party (inter-factional dialogue) or a dialogue with the opposition. At the same time, there is a growing temptation to settle the status of the opposition in a way that is convenient for the coalition, or to postpone this settlement for a long time. Actually, judging by statements the Parliament leadership, the law "On Opposition" will not emerge in the near future.

Delay the process of transition to electronic document management creates a challenge for the administrative capacity of the Parliament. The passing of Bill №4586 extended the simultaneous existence of electronic and paper documents. Inhibiting this process can also negatively affect the tools of electronic interaction between citizens and parliament (for example, electronic discussion of bills).

No recommendations of the previous period have been fully implemented, so these recommendations remain relevant.

1. To harmonize the Parliamentary Rules with the Constitution of Ukraine. In particular, the selection of candidates for the position of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, regulation of the status of the coalition, as well as the mechanisms of its formation and numbers estimation, etc.
   

2. To revise the Roadmap for internal reform of the Parliament in order to revise recommendations that have become obsolete or of doubtful relevance in the context of the domestic parliamentary practices.
   

3. To approve the concept of the “end-to-end” legislative process, which should be agreed between all subjects of the legislative process and correlate with the ongoing reform of public administration.
   

4. To develop and adopt laws aimed at institutional strengthening of the supervisory function of the Parliament, in particular on unification of the format and structure of annual reports of ministries, development and approval of annual work plans for supervision of the executive branch by parliamentary committees, achieving a clear balance between committees and ministries, establishing the practice of "Post-legislative scrutiny".

5. To adopt the Law on Regulatory Acts in order to ensure effective division of the sphere of regulation of laws and secondary laws, as well as to establish uniform rules for drafting laws, their harmonization between the interested entities, the procedure for interaction of subjects of legislative activity, as well as entry the laws into force, and their monitoring and implementation evaluation.
   

6. To develop and approve the Code of MPs’ Ethics, taking into account the international standards of activity of the MPs.
   

7. To adopt the Law " On Peculiarities of Civil Service in the Apparatus of the Parliament".
   

8. To organize the process of elaborating on comprehensive amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in the Parliament with the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders in order to enhance the role of Parliament and to resolve existing internal problems arising from the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine: a) change the rules of voting for the laws by a simple majority in the presence of a certain quorum; b) limit the individual right of legislative initiative of the MPs; c) abolish the imperative mandate.