The Law "On Public Consultations" establishes the procedure for conducting consultations and, in particular, provides that:
The law will enter into force 12 months after the end of martial law.
USAID's RADA: Next Generation Program strongly supported the adoption of the law, as it promotes greater citizen engagement in the lawmaking process. This will help improve the quality of laws and the legitimacy of government decisions.
Over the past year, the Program's experts have been providing legal support and developing recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the law. In addition, as part of our grant initiative, the NGO Institute Respublica conducted training for employees of the Verkhovna Rada committees, assistants to MPs and NGOs on Public Consultations as a Quality Tool for Drafting Laws.
The program assisted MPs (including Natalia Pipa and Halyna Vasylchenko) and parliamentary committees in conducting pilot projects of public consultations. According to Olena Shuliak, Chair of the Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning and one of the initiators of the consultations, "public consultations are not scary, they are useful and really make it clear what changes communities want. The law creates conditions for more active participation of citizens in public administration and ensures that their interests are taken into account when making important decisions."
