PARLIAMENTARY DIMENSIONS OF LAWMAKING: STATUS, CHALLENGES, PROSPECTS

Abstract

The article covers the lawmaking activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It is noted that for over 30 years of independence, Ukraine has not developed a unified approach to lawmaking activities of the public authorities, and only the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IX convocation has adopted a basic legislative act in the field of lawmaking under the difficult and even extreme conditions of a full-scale war. The peculiarities of the Parliament's work during the period of martial law, as well as its effectiveness in the field of legislative activity, are emphasized. The importance of parliamentary diplomacy and inter-parliamentary cooperation during martial law is highlighted. The specifics of the legislative system renewal and its «cleansing» from Soviet symbolism are described. The statistical data on the performance indicators of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are as of the middle of April 2024. Particular attention is paid to the Law of Ukraine On Lawmaking, containing a number of novelties and progressive provisions aimed at ensuring the civil society participation in lawmaking and improving the Ukrainian legislation quality, strengthening coordination between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This will be facilitated by the introduction of: analytical, forecasting and program documents of public policy to plan lawmaking activities; impact assessment as a mandatory stage of drafting a legal act; public consultations to implement the principles of openness and transparency of lawmaking activities, etc.; and the maintenance of the Unified State Register of Legal Acts by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. In addition, the article features: planning of the Parliament's activities; legal monitoring as a guarantee of the implementation of the control function of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; optimization of the institutional capacity of the Parliament. Ways to further improve the lawmaking activities of the Parliament are seen, in particular, in the following: recodification and decodification of the national legislation, leading to an increase in its quality in the best European traditions; building a model of a step-by-step algorithm of lawmakers’ actions at all stages of lawmaking; creating a unified information database on the adaptation of the Ukrainian legislation to the provisions of the EU law (EU acquis); introducing a unified register of lawmaking proposals (initiatives, ideas); active usage of IT technologies in lawmaking; and applying long-term priorities analysis for the development of legislation when planning the work of the Parliament.