About Centre of Policy and Legal Reform

Development of state policy in a certain area of public law relations and promotion of its proper implementation, which includes: identification of problems of state and legal development; research of a condition of a problem, analytical forecasting; development of reform concepts; development of draft laws and other regulations; participation in working groups, commissions for drafting the bill; legal examination of bills, initiation of public campaigns to support the adoption of certain decisions; monitoring the implementation of adopted laws;

Scientific and advisory activities for the purpose of theoretical substantiation of the proposed changes and communication of legal positions to decision-makers, which consists in: writing scientific and practical comments, practical manuals, textbooks, monographs, other scientific publications; facilitating the translation and publication of outstanding works of Western legal thought, as well as foreign sources of legislation; providing legal positions at the request of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine; preparation of expert opinions at the request of ministries and other public authorities on the decisions they develop;

Educational work to mobilize politicians, the public to solve common problems or to conduct training for specific target audiences, namely: conferences, seminars, round tables on specific issues; holding press conferences, participation in programs on relevant topics in the media; analytical journalism; conducting trainings on specific issues of an applied nature (for example, the establishment and operation of centers for the provision of administrative services, on litigation, electronic document management in public authorities, etc.); writing and distribution among citizens of brochures, other materials on the mechanisms of defending their rights in court, in relations with officials, etc.;

Monitoring the activities of the authorities for compliance with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, the obligations arising from membership in the Council of Europe, and the conditions of European integration, covering the following work: constant monitoring of the activities of political authorities in the legal sector; monitoring the implementation of the action plan for signing an association agreement with the EU, monitoring the decisions of courts (Constitutional, Supreme and Supreme Administrative – constantly, other courts – to the extent necessary to perform specific tasks); monitoring the development of public law; preparation and publication of monitoring reports; providing comments to the media with a legal assessment of political decisions and other events.

Lobbying (1998-2002) for transparency of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in particular filling the website www.zakon.gov.ua with bills submitted to the Parliament when they were not yet available on the Parliament’s website.

Preparation of the Green and White Books of the constitutional reform, which contain, respectively, a list of problems of the Constitution of Ukraine and proposals for their solution.

Active participation in improving the legislation and practice on freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, in particular participation in the draft Law on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Freedom of Association, in particular participation in the draft Law on Public Associations, adopted in 2012.

Combating the unconstitutional powers of parliamentary political parties to exclude candidates for deputies of Ukraine from the electoral list of a political party after the publication of voting results, which were annulled by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in 2017.

Combating the unconstitutional Law “On All-Ukrainian Referendum”, adopted in 2012. It was repealed by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in 2018. Development of a new draft Law “On All-Ukrainian Referendum”, which is being considered by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Strengthening the independence of the constitutional judiciary through the monitoring of competitions for the positions of judges of the CCU, the activities of the CCU, information and educational activities.

Participation in the creation of the Concept of Administrative Reform in Ukraine, approved by the President of Ukraine in 1998.

Development of the Law “On Local State Administrations”, adopted in 1999.

Development of the Law “On the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine”. CPLR experts have been fighting for its adoption since 1996. It has been approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine eight times and vetoed by the President of Ukraine. As a result, the law was adopted in 2008 (in 2010-2011 it was significantly damaged by the Yanukovych regime, but in 2014 it was largely returned to the previous version).

Development in 2002 and advocacy of the draft Law “On Central Executive Bodies”. The law was adopted in 2011 with changes that generally worsened its quality.

Development in 2008 of the Law “On Access to Public Information”, adopted in 2011 after a broad campaign by the media and NGOs.

Participation in the development of concepts and package of draft laws on administrative-territorial reform and decentralization (2008-2009, 2014).

Participation in the development and long-term (2005-2015) advocacy of the new Law “On Civil Service” (2015), which came into force on May 1, 2016. Preparation of scientific and practical commentary on it and assistance in its implementation.

In 2016, the Government launched a reform of ministries aimed at introducing effective policy analysis and strategic planning in ministries. This reform has been advocated by the CPLR since 2005, and the Center is now actively working on its further implementation.

Participation in the development of the draft Law “On Public Consultations” (submitted by the Government to the Parliament in 2019).

Development of the theory of administrative services and preparation of the draft Concept of reforming the system of administrative services (approved by the Government in 2006)

Active participation in the preparation of the draft Law “On Administrative Services”, adopted in 2012

Promoting the establishment of pilot centers for the provision of administrative services. About 100 trainings and other events for representatives of local governments to organize the work of CNAP. Ensuring public monitoring of the quality of administrative services.

Since 1999 – leading participation in the preparation and advocacy of the bill on the general administrative procedure. It has already been sent to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine three times by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, but has not been approved yet. In 2018, more than 25 meetings of the working group of the Ministry of Justice were held with the active participation of CPLR experts.

On May 14, 2022, the President of Ukraine signed the Law on Administrative Procedure (No. 3475). The Center for Political and Legal Reforms worked on its adoption for more than 20 years and the expert community recognizes it as one of the most influential pieces of legislation

Preparation of the draft Law “On Access to Judgments”, adopted in 2005. On its basis, the Unified State Register of Judgments operates today.

Development of the concept of creation of administrative courts in Ukraine and the Code of Administrative Procedure, adopted in 2005. A scientific and practical commentary to it has also been prepared.

Participation in the development and advocacy of the draft Law “On the Prosecutor’s Office”, adopted in 2014.

Participation in the development of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on justice (2016), provisions of the laws “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” (2014, 2015, 2016), “On the High Council of Justice” 2016. Thanks to CPLR experts creation of the Public Council of Integrity, measures to protect judicial independence.

Advocacy for the establishment of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court, participation in the preparation of regulatory and legal support for its activities.

Preparation and substantiation of the reform of the institute of administrative responsibility and the draft Code of Administrative Offenses.

Active participation in the development of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Law “On Free Legal Aid”. Preparation of scientific and practical commentary to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Assistance in the formation of the National Police: participation in the preparation of the Law “On the National Police” (2015), the Disciplinary Statute of the National Police (2018), the selection of patrol police officers.

Development and advocacy of the adoption of the Law “On the State Bureau of Investigation” (2015).

Participation in the preparation of the Law “On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine” (2014), strengthening the institutional capacity of NABU and SAP through the provision of scientific and methodological recommendations, consultations to detectives and prosecutors, preparation of expert opinions, etc. Preparation of scientific and practical comments on the laws “On Principles of Prevention and Counteraction to Corruption”, “On Prevention of Corruption”.

Participation in the development and advocacy of bills that enhance the effectiveness of anti-corruption policy and were part of the Action Plan on visa liberalization between Ukraine and the EU.

Development of a methodology and subsequent anti-corruption expertise of several hundred bills, which allowed blocking the adoption of many bills that contain corruption-causing factors and / or are aimed at inhibiting anti-corruption reform.

Preparation of alternative reports to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of state anti-corruption policy for the period from 2013 to 2018.

Providing expert support to NAPC, CEC, courts and other state institutions on preventing and combating “political corruption” (participation in the development / revision of NAPC acts in this area, preparation of expert opinions, scientific and methodological recommendations, monitoring reports, etc.). Development of the draft Law “On Improving the System of Prevention and Combating Political Corruption”.