On September 14, 2023, the Agency of Legislative Initiatives (ALI) held an expert discussion on the results of a study on judicial influence on reforms in Ukraine. This study was prepared within the project “Civil society for post-war recovery of Ukraine and readiness for the EU”, which is financed by the European Union.
Context. Today, Ukraine has a real chance to fulfil its European integration aspirations and become a full member of the European Union. However, we still have to go through a long and difficult path of reforms. The key here will be the quality of these reforms. Therefore, it is extremely important to involve not only government agencies but also civil society and independent experts in the process of designing reforms.
During the presentation, participants discussed the phenomenon of judicial influence, its impact on the course of reforms, and possible steps to improve future reforms and cooperation between various stakeholders.
Oleksandr Zaslavskyy, director of the analytical direction of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, moderated the discussion. He spoke about the main results of the study and key recommendations for lawmakers:
Oleksiy Tseliev, PhD in legal sciences, associate professor, expert of the Center for the Study of the Rule of Law of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, noted that the practice of applying the new norms may differ from the plan — and this is a normal phenomenon.
Volodymyr Chaban, the chief national expert of the Pravo-Justice project, spoke about the possibilities of development and further work with the study of ALI:
Karyna Aslanian, an expert involved in the peer review of the study, shared her vision of the practical use of ALI research:
After taking into account the experts’ comments, the study will be published on the Agency of Legislative Initiatives’ website and sent to the relevant government agencies for further review and application in law-making activities.
Additional information:
The project Civil society for the post-war recovery of Ukraine and readiness for the EU is implemented with the support of the European Union. It is aimed at increasing the ability of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada to overcome the consequences of the war and on the way to Ukraine’s membership in the EU. The project plans to achieve this by providing expert and communication support from public organizations regarding developing and implementing relevant laws and policies.
More details about the project: https://parlament.org.ua/2022/09/19/ali-eu-readiness-consortium/
For additional information, contact Maria Hereles, Director of the Communications Department of the Agency of Legislative Initiatives, at mg@parliament.org.ua.