Thus, on June 4, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy postponed consideration of the draft law "On Public Organizations" (No. 3371). The reason was not officially announced. According to unofficial information, the Security Service expressed opposition to the draft law, as it opposes granting the right to stateless persons and foreigners to establish public organizations in Ukraine. Although the current law "On Associations of Citizens" provides for such a right. Moreover, guaranteeing such a right is required by the European Court of Human Rights, and it has already been implemented by Belarus, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Is it possible that the process of reducing and restricting civil rights and freedoms has already begun in Ukraine?
On June 5, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not manage to consider the draft law "On Access to Public Information" (No. 2763). The deputies were very preoccupied with personnel issues, namely the creation of a vacancy - the Minister of Defense. Now the consideration of draft law No. 2763 is scheduled for Friday, June 12, as the last item on the agenda, which means that the deputies most likely will again not manage to consider this issue. Let us recall that the adoption of this law is the fulfillment of obligations not only to the citizens of Ukraine but also to the Council of Europe; almost all factions of the parliament have declared their commitment to integration into Europe.
More than 60 organizations sent letters of support for the said draft laws addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Policy Serhiy Mishchenko (BYuT) and Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn (Lytvyn Bloc).
It can be stated that, unfortunately, the legal consolidation of civil rights and freedoms of citizens is not at all a priority for the deputies.
It is also worth recalling that for already 3 months the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has been unable to approve the Regulation on the Electronic Register of Data on the Status and Results of Public Expert Examinations.
On April 27, 2009, at a meeting of the Government Committee on Legal Policy, Deputy Minister of Justice Nataliya Bohatsheva (Our Ukraine) withdrew the said draft government resolution from consideration, without any particular reason. The Regulation on the Electronic Register had undergone public discussion and was supported by public organizations. As a result of manipulations by the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the regulation is unlawfully not submitted for consideration by the government committee, because it provides that the administrator of the register of expert examinations will be precisely the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers.
This means that organized civil society needs to seek new (possibly more radical) mechanisms of public pressure on deputies and the government to convince them of the necessity of adopting the said decisions.
Maksym Latsyba Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Studies