Ukrainian Parliament voted to restore the e-declarations but failed to include the amendment to open the register of declarations (law #9534).
On September 5, 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament voted to restore the declarations of public officials.
At the same time, as confirmed by several MPs, the Unified State Register of Declarations of Persons Authorized to Perform Functions of the State or Local Self-Government will be open only a year after today’s vote.
Ukrainian Parliament voted to dismiss Oleksiy Reznikov as defense minister.
On September 5, 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament voted to dismiss Oleksiy Reznikov as Ukraine’s defense minister. The Verkhovna Rada appointed Rustem Umerov as the new defense minister. On September 6, 2023, Rustem Umerov was officially appointed Ukraine’s new defense minister, vowing to do “everything possible and impossible for the victory of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian Parliament approved Pavlo Kyrylenko as the Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee on September 6, 2023.
Program helped VRU Research Service (RSVRU) conduct training to better assist VRU committees. On September 5-7, RANG, in cooperation with the RSVRU, conducted a training on VRU committees. 23 participants joined the event, including VRU Secretariat staffers and MP aids. During the training, participants learned about VRU Committees' functions, principles of work, structure, rights, and obligations, with whom and for whom the VRU Committees interact, and possibilities for improving committees' work. These efforts are a part of RANG’s activities in supporting the creation of a Training Unit within the VRU Secretariat responsible for the planning and organizing training of newly elected MPs, their aides and VRU staff.
Program experts contributed to the panel discussion on the Judiciary and the Status of Judges. On September 5, RANG experts took part in an online consultation with the Venice Commission representatives of the judiciary, MPs, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders to discuss this issue. The meeting was part of the joint assessment with the Council of Europe's Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (DGI) of the draft law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges'" (Draft Law No. 9454) and certain laws on the activities of the Supreme Court and judicial bodies". RANG experts emphasized that the draft law contradicts the constitutional guarantees of judicial independence, international standards in the field of justice, and the conclusions of the Venice Commission. The HCJ will first collect information and materials that may indicate that a judge has committed a disciplinary offense (i.e., not only check the arguments of the disciplinary complaint but also search for grounds for bringing the judge to disciplinary responsibility), initiate disciplinary proceedings, and subsequently consider such disciplinary proceedings and complaints against the decision of the disciplinary body to bring the judge to justice. The Council will perform several functions simultaneously - investigation and prosecution, consideration of the merits, and review of the decision to bring disciplinary responsibility. Thus, ensuring the HCJ's impartiality in disciplinary proceedings will be virtually impossible.
USAID RADA: Next Generation helped the VRU Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development ensure accountability. On September 5, the Committee on State Building adopted and published the Report for the 9th session of Ukraine’s Parliament IX convocation. RANG strengthened the Committee’s communication capacity, particularly the visibility and accessibility of the Report to the Ukrainian public. The document demonstrates the key indicators of the Committee's work during the period of February-August 2023 before the constituency in order to provide the VRU’s accountability and democratic development in Ukraine.