On October 17, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) held a workshop within the framework of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program to share the experience of the post-legislative scrutiny (PLS) with the Verkhovna Rada committees.
PLS is a tool that allows the Parliament to determine whether a law is being implemented and whether it has achieved its expected goals. Based on the information collected, the application and impact of the law on society is assessed, which becomes the basis for further improvement of legislation.
"We support the Verkhovna Rada committees in analyzing the effectiveness of legislation, which is a key part of the Parliament's scrutiny function and the legislative cycle from beginning to end. Our colleagues from the Foundation provide expert support in the implementation of the PLS, as well as training and experience exchange for the VRU Secretariat," said Mårten Ehnberg, Director of the RADA: Next Generation Program.
The program helped to adapt the British PLS methodology and analyze the application and effectiveness of 7 laws of Ukraine. Our experts prepared relevant reports for improving the legislation, which were presented at committee meetings with the participation of relevant ministries and agencies.
During the workshop, representatives of the Parliamentary Committees that participated in the PLS projects shared with their colleagues how they analyzed and what challenges they faced in assessing the effectiveness of legislation. Their experience and recommendations will allow other VRU Committees to adopt the best practices of the PLS to strengthen the oversight function of the Parliament and improve laws.
The leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and the Secretariat spoke in favor of introducing and expanding the practice of the PLS as a regular committee procedure. Mykhailo Tepliuk, Deputy Head of the VRU Secretariat, stated: "Scrutiny is about supporting the principle of democratic governance and the rule of law. The PLS helps to prevent potential negative consequences of laws and assess their effectiveness in the system of legislative regulation of certain social relations. As a result, the PLS results in improving the quality of adopted laws and the ability to say what works and what does not work, and why."
