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Summary for two sessions of activities in Committees of the VRU of VII convocation

Before the 3rd session of the Verkhovna Rada of VII convocation is opened, OPORA will publish a number of materials containing a summary of parliamentary activities for the current period. These documents complement a long-term monitoring, which is being conducted by the organization after 2012 Parliamentary elections. Taking into consideration the results of an expert inquiry conducted by the OPORA after the first half-year of VRU activities, the first report concerns activities of parliamentary committees. We remind that activities in committees were recognized as primary duties of MPs. OPORA hopes that these publications will help citizens to keep up with parliamentary activities, MPs to be more open and accountable, and the Verkhovna Rada to be institutionally independent.

Activities of parliamentary committees

Verkhovna Rada of VII convocation has 29 committees. However, only the Committee on Environmental Policy, Use of Natural Resources and Chornobyl Aftermath Mitigation has balanced political representation of the opposition and the government factions. In the others, the Party of Regions and its allies have formed the majority in 21 committees, and the opposition - in 7. The Committee on Budget is the most popular among MPs. It has 37 members, what is 7 members more than the Law on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine allows. The Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations, which contains 28 MPs, is on the second place by the quantity of members. 27 MPs volunteered to work in the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy. The Committee on Matters of Pensioners, Veterans and Persons with Disabilities as well as the Committee on Informatization and Information Technologies are not popular among MPs. They have only 7 members each. According to the Article 5(2) of the Law on Committees of the Verkhovna of Ukraine, every committee shall consist of not less than 9 and not more than 30 MPs. Therefore, the appropriateness and legitimacy of these committees can be doubted.

As of the end of the second session, 29 committees of the Verkhovna Rada have registered 2235 draft laws. The lion's share of draft bills is to be considered by the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 1603 draft laws were registered in the Committee. The Committee on Budget has the second largest number of drafted normative acts. It has 1457 bills under consideration. The Committee on European Integration has accumulated 1379 draft legislative initiatives.

Activeness of MPs on meetings of committees.

To constructively discuss draft legislative acts in Ukraine, meetings of committees could have been the best platform. However, the analysis of speeches in the Parliament shows that the discussion is quite inert. OPORA has analyzed minutes and stenographic reports of committee meetings, which were officially provided to the organization.

Members of the Committee on State Building and Local Self-Government actively participate in consideration of draft laws. If to divide the number of speeches into the number of MPs, we will receive an average percentage of their activeness on committee meetings - 86.28%. The Committee on Science and Education is on the second place – 70.61%. Average percentage of MPs' activeness on meetings of the Committee on Informatization and Information Technologies is 60%. The other Committees hold little discussions on socially important issues. For example, the average percentage of MPs' activeness on meetings of the Committee on Judicial Policy is 3.89%. Committee on Family Matters, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism - 6.58%. Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement - 7.33%.

MPs' activeness on meetings of VRU committees

*Information about speeches of committee members is taken from the minutes of meetings. The table contains no information on speeches of MPs during meetings of the Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations, Committee on Budget, and the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of the VRU. These committees unlawfully conceal minutes of their meetings.

Activeness of speakers by factions

The most active faction in committees is Svoboda, every member of which has high average percentage of activeness - 40.38%. The Party of Regions is the most passive parliamentary faction, which members gave 22.37% of speeches. Non-faction MPs have 17.43%.

*This analysis shows the number of speeches in correlation to the quantity of MPs in a faction.

Having analyzed the consideration of draft legislative initiatives on meetings of parliamentary committees, we may see that speakers belonging to different factions unequally participate in discussions. Therefore, we have divided all MPs into 4 nominal categories in order to determine which political parties participate most: "numb" (percentage of activeness on meetings from 0 to 10%), "taciturn" (from 10 to 30%), speakers (from 30 to 60%) and "orators" (from 60 to 100%).

Members of the Svoboda faction are the most active according to the percentage. 7 of 30 members of the party – are orators, which activeness percentage is 60-100%. The percentage of "numb" members of the committee belonging to the AUU Svoboda – is 20%, i.e. 6 MPs.

14 of 166 members of the Party of Regions (8.4%) regularly speak on meetings of their committees and belong to the category of "orators". 66 members of the faction (39.8%) are mostly silent.

There is only 1 orator among 22 non-faction deputies. 54.5% (12 persons) of non-faction deputies are "numb" on meetings of committees.

The other parliamentary factions have relatively equal number of speakers and taciturn MPs.

Availability of information about activities in the committees

Article 9 (2) of the Law on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine provides that information about current activities in committees shall be published on the official web page of the Parliament. However, instead of information about meetings and taken decisions, website of the VRU contains basic information about membership of committees, grounds for their creation, and contact information of the secretariats. Therefore, legislative requirements on providing citizens with information about activities of committees through the site of the Verkhovna Rada are improperly implemented. We may observe the same situation on sites of the committees which, according to the Article 9(3) of the Law of Ukraine on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, have the right to publish information about their activities, but never do exercise it.

22 of 29 committees have created their sites in order to meet regulations of the Law. However, as long as there are no standards for their content, the information on activities of committees considerably differentiates. First of all, we should mention that all existing web sites of committees cannot provide exhaustive information necessary to access activities of MPs.

OPORA has analyzed the quality of content on web sites of VRU committees in accordance to the requirements of the Law of Ukraine on Access to Public Information, as well as international experience in promulgation of information about activities of MPs. We may divide public information, which should have been published on sites, into four categories: "history of the committee", "information about the effective committee", "current activities of the committee", and "legislative activities of the committee". Every category aggregates data that is necessary to qualitatively assess activities of MPs. Thus, when analyzing the promulgation of current activities on web-sites of committees, we assessed the availability of: news and timely updates, quality of materials, dates of the past and future meetings, minutes, stenographic reports, agendas, information about attendance of MPs on meetings. When analyzing the promulgation of information about legislative activities of the committee, we assessed the availability of: list and texts of draft laws that are considered by the committee, and to which the committee shall submit propositions, information about the consideration of documents, about the division of draft laws between subcommittees etc.

Monitoring results have shown that only 3 of 29 committees publish more than a half of socially important information of their sites. These committees are: the Organized Crime Control and Anti-Corruption Committee, Committee on State Building and Local Self-Government, Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information. All the other sites of VRU committees contain from 14 to 46% of information. Site of the Committee on the Rule of Law and Justice has the poorest content. This web-resource provides only information about the membership of the committee, news, and working plan. The smallest attention is paid to the promulgation of information about current activities of committees. There is also little information about the consideration of draft laws, recommendations, expert opinions and dates when consideration of documents is scheduled. If we take the publication of stenographic reports, which are supposed to be evidence of held discussions and taken decisions, we'll see the similar situation. Despite these documents shall be published on sites of committees, they are not available. In fact, only 2 of 29 committees are regularly publishing stenographic reports of meetings in internet.

Another 7 VRU committees don't have their sites at all. These committees are: Committee on Economic Policy, Committee on Health Care, Committee on Social Policy and Labour, Committee on Transport and Communications, Committee on Finance and Banking, Committee on Foreign Affairs. It's paradoxical, that Committee on Informatization and Information Technologies, which is responsible for the development of internet space in Ukraine, doesn't have its own site.

Attendance of MPs on the Committee sittings

The Committee on Environmental Policy, Use of Natural Resources and Chornobyl Aftermath Mitigation has the highest meetings attendance percentage (94.17%). The Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement is on the second place – 90.85%. Attendance percentage of the Committee on Industrial and Investment Policy is 89.61%, Organized Crime Control and Anti-Corruption Committee – 87.5%, Committee on Science and Education – 86.87%, Committee on State Building and Local Self-Government – 86.81%, Committee on Social Policy and Labor – 86.06%. Members of the Committee on construction, city planning, housing service and regional politics are the least disciplined. The percentage of their attendance on meetings is 58.33%. Despite the Committee on Transport and Communications has 66.67% attendance percentage, the situation is for from satisfactory. The Committee on Matters of Pensioners, Veterans and Persons with Disabilities has 69.05% attendance.

Members of the AUU Svoboda have the best committee meetings' attendance percentage for the first six months of parliamentary activities – 91.3%. Attendance percentage of the CPU faction members is 81.9%, AUU Batkivshchyna – 79.1%, Party of Regions – 78.2%, UDAR – 76.4%, non-faction – 69.8%.

6 Members of Parliament didn't attend any meeting of their committees. Non-faction MPs Ihor Palytsia, Pavlo Baloha, Kostiantyn Zhevaho, as well as member of the Party of Regions Yurii Ivaniushchenko, and Vitalii Kovalchuk from the UDAR and Petro Symonenko (CPU) have missed the biggest number of meetings. Ihor Palytsia was absent on all the meetings of the Committee on Economic Policy; MPs Yurii Ivaniushchenko and Vitalii Kovalchuk – of the Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety; Pavlo Baloha, Kostiantyn Zhevaho, and Petro Symonenko – of the Committee on Judicial Policy.

Nvier Mkhitarian and Oleksandr Onyshchenko from the Party of Regions also have low attendance percentage. Nvier Mkhitarian was present on 1 of 12 meetings of the Committee on construction, city planning, housing service and regional politics. Oleksandr Onyshchenko – on 1 of 9 meetings of the Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety.

102 MPs were present on all meetings of the committees. 46 of them are from the Party of Regions, 20 from the AUU Batkivshchyna, 15 form AUU Svoboda, 10 from the UDAR, 9 from the CPU and 2 non-faction deputies. The biggest number of disciplined MPs are members of the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement. 9 of 17 members of the committee were present on all of the meetings. There are 8 MPs with 100% attendance in the Committee on Health Care, and 7 in the Committee on Transport and Communications. The Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy, and Committee on Social Policy and Labor, have the smallest number of members which have 100% attendance. There is only 1 member in each, who attends meetings regularly. Only the Committee on Matters of Pensioners, Veterans and Persons with Disabilities has worse attendance, as long as none of its members is present on all the meetings.

Access to meetings of committees and recommendations

Verkhovna Rada provides no standard procedure of receiving access to public events, and meetings of committees in particular, for journalists. Paragraph 7 of Regulations for the Accreditation of Journalists and Media Technical Staff, which the Press Service refers to, guarantees the access of journalists:

• through the entrance #1 to mass media lodge and lobbies near the Session Hall (but not including it) on 5 Hrushevskoho St., during sittings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
• to the corresponding premises of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during briefings, press-conferences, round tables, and other events open for mass media attendance;
• to the corresponding premises of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during open sittings of committees and temporary commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

However, in practice, the access of journalists to premises where sittings of the committees are held, is implemented in correspondence with a Resolution as of 2006, which requires agreeing participation of the press with the corresponding committee head or the Press Service. The guard will not let journalists in till they find the necessary surname in an invitation list. The preliminary agreement, as well as accreditation card, doesn't secure a place for you in the "list of chosen". Everything depends on the goodwill of committee members. While some give permits without any problems, the others use regulations of the out-of-date document issued in 2006, which limits access to committees. The Committee on Budget, Committee on National Security and Defense, Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, Ethics and Support to Work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine belong to the latter. It's relatively easy to receive permits to meetings of the Committee on European Integration, Committee on Science and Education, and Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement. However, no matter how complex the procedure is, the access of journalists to meetings is restricted, what is contradictory to regulations of the Resolution passed in 2011.

Free public access to socially important information is an integral part of democracy called to prevent unlawful governance. However, activities in committees contain some issues that contradict the principles of transparency and openness, secured by the corresponding Law and international documents. Taking into consideration that openness of parliamentary activities will increase people's confidence in the Parliament and its collegial bodies, Civil Network OPORA has prepared the following propositions:

1. To secure systematical publication of information about activities of the Committee and taken decisions on its official web-site.

Law on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada requires publication if information about current activities of committees on the official web-site of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, taking into consideration large volumes of socially important information, it would be reasonable to secure regular publishing of information about activities of committees on their own websites.

According to the Civil Network OPORA, socially important information about activities of VRU committees is insufficiently covered in internet. 13 of 29 committees don't have their own sites. Most of existing sites of committees are not updated, and there are no standards for promulgation of information.

Taking into consideration the abovementioned, Civil Network OPORA recommends to secure stable work of sites of the Committee, covering the following information:

• membership of the Committee and its sub-committees, division of responsibilities between members of the Committee, composition of the Secretariat and its responsibilities. Contact information;
•  Scheduled meetings of the Committee and the procedure of access for mass media representatives, CSIs, and citizens;
• Minutes and stenographic reports, taken decisions, list of draft laws under consideration of the Committee. According to the Article 51(6) of the Law on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, "Minutes and verbatim record of the Committee are official documents, which prove the discussion process and decision making, opinion and recommendations of the Committee." According to the Article 9 of the Law, minutes and stenographic reports shall be published on the official web-site of the VRU or the Committee.

2. To publish information about open sittings of the committee, sub-committees, working groups, committee hearings and other bodies of the committee.

According to the Article 15(7) of the Law of Ukraine on Access to Public Information, information manager shall publish schedules and agendas of open meetings.

3. To secure open access to meetings of the committee, sub-committees, working groups, committee hearings and other bodies of the committee for mass media.

The Law on Access to Public Information secures the right to access the public information through securing access to meetings of collegial bodies. In fact, this right is limited by the necessity to receive additional permission from committee heads or his authorized representative.