Local Self-Governance and the Rule of Law in Ukraine

The goal of the Project is to introduce and further implement the rule of law principles in local self-governance in Ukraine. The slogan of the project: “Full-fledged citizens – accountable governance”. The Project is being implemented by the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) (FBA) in cooperation with the Rule of Law Research Center of the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” and with financial support from Sweden.

Components of the Project

1. “The Rule of Law in the Operation of Public Administration Bodies” 

Description: Study of the peculiarities of implementation of the rule of law in the operation of local self-government bodies in Ukraine, primarily in the area of administrative services. 

One of the main results of this component of the research is the preparation of the manual “The Rule of Law in the Activities of Public Administration Bodies” дfor municipal employees, other public servants, academics and practitioners. 

This manual describes in detail the specifics of implementation of the rule of law components (principles of legality, accessibility, transparency, accountability, the right to be heard and the right to appeal).

2. The Rule of Law in Public Administration and Local Self-Governance: European Standards.. 

The experts of the Center have prepared a practical manual «“The Rule of Law in Public Administration and Local Self-Governance: European Standards”, which contains general acts, some special acts, judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, expert opinions, reports and other documents (or extracts from them) with certain legal norms and positions on the implementation of the rule of law and its components in the operation of public administration bodies in general and local self-governance in particular.  

The legal acts offered here are accompanied by scientific and practical comments of the compilers, which will allow to improve the understanding of the rule of law principles and their manifestations in different systems of public administration, taking into account the best practices of regulating administrative procedures.

3. Training Module “Rule of Law in the Operation of Public Administration Bodies”.

The module   “Rule of Law in the Operation of Public Administration Bodies” is a curriculum of the course  for students of the Master’s program “Public Administration and Management” at the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”. 

The course “Rule of Law in the Operation of Public Administration Bodies” is necessary for future masters to develop modern legal thinking based on European values such as the recognition and unconditional acceptance of the highest value of a person, his or her inalienable rights and freedoms, which bind all branches of government and are a direct manifestation of the rule of law.

The course provides an opportunity to understand the place of the rule of law in the operation  of state and local self-government bodies, as well as their officials and employees, its role in ensuring human rights   and freedoms, in particular of residents of territorial communities,   while providing public services   by local self-government bodies.

4. Research “Rule of Law and the Occupied Territories of Donbas and Crimea”. 

The research focuses on the following areas: registration of civil status acts (births and deaths, marriages and divorces); obtaining passports; conducting business and exercising property rights (protection of property); ensuring the right to education; and social protection. 

The authors have identified areas for improving the legislative framework for the protection of the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine residing in the territories not controlled by Ukraine, as well as the practice of its application by local state authorities and local self-government authorities, in particular through the provision of public (administrative) services. 

The target audience is employees of public administration bodies, including local self-government authorities, law enforcement agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations (mainly human rights organizations), judges, political scientists, and experts in the field of rulemaking, in particular at the local level.

5. Rule of Law Checklist in Public Administration (for local self-government authorities) 

Based on the concept of the Rule of Law Checklist adopted by the Venice Commission in 2016, the experts of the Center have prepared a separate special tool for assessing the level of compliance with the rule of law in the work of local self-government authorities. This manual is methodological, as it involves systematic introduction of the material to the person, and not just giving answers for self-checking, although this is also an important methodological goal.

The main idea of this tool is to demonstrate that the rule of law is not an abstract concept used in a biased or evaluative manner for political or sociological arguments. In Ukraine, there is a lack of understanding among officials of local self-government authorities of how specific elements of the rule of law can be applied to the realities of their daily routine. The proposed format of the manual combines theoretical aspects of the rule of law (definition and set of issues) with practical situations – illustration or actual “landing” of the rule of law on the Ukrainian realities of local self-government authorities.

6. Training component

Experts of the Center conducted trainings in several conceptual areas.

1. The training program “Rule of Law in the Operation of Local Self-Government Authorities in Ukraine” is focused on improving the participants’ knowledge and professional understanding of the concept and principles of the rule of law as one of the main foundations of effective public administration (“good governance”) aimed at protecting human rights and democracy at the local self-government level.

During 2015–2018  15 two-day practical trainings were held in different cities of Ukraine (Mykolaiv, Yuzhne, Dolyna, Sambir, Voznesensk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Pyriatyn, Vilniansk, Melitopol, Dnipro, Myrhorod, Ternivka, Truskavets). Training participants included employees of the executive bodies of the respective city councils, and in some cases, mayors, city council members, and civic activists.

The key educational objectives of the trainings are:

• to provide the participants with additional new and useful information, in particular, to familiarize them with the social purpose of the rule of law and its main components (respect for human rights and freedoms and the commitment of public authorities to them, the supreme legal force of the constitution, equality before the law, transparency, accessibility, legal certainty, legality, proportionality, etc.);

• to introduce or improve the skills of application of the rule of law components (as indicators) in the practical   rule-making activities of local self-government authorities, in the adoption of actual law enforcement decisions and in communication with residents of communities based on the results of the assessment and the elaborated recommendations; 

• to encourage participants to begin critical reflection on their activities and the regulatory framework on which they are based, applying the rule of law and suggesting proposals for improvement;

• to develop the basic skills of using the components of the rule of law more widely when planning participants’ practical work, as well as when solving specific practical issues aimed at ensuring the proper realization of human rights within the framework of applying to local self-government authorities for relevant services.

2. Training Program “Observance of the Rule of Law Principles in the Delivery of Administrative Services”. 

The training program focuses on the areas, means and ways of implementing the principles (components) of the rule of law in the fields that local self-government authorities most often deal with in their practical activities such as housing and communal services and landscaping, transport, land issues, registration services, architecture and urban planning, as well as the exercising of information powers. 

In 2016–2017, 4 three-day practical cluster trainings were held in different cities of Ukraine (Lviv, Yuzhne, Myrhorod, Dnipro). Participants of the trainings included employees of the executive bodies of 16 city councils of the cities participating in the project, and in some cases mayors, city council members, and civic activists.

The key educational objectives of the trainings included helping participants to more effectively:

· identify the basic principles of the rule of law in the delivery of administrative services at the local self-government level;

· study and analyze the results of research conducted in five selected service delivery areas (land issues; registration; architecture and urban planning; housing and communal services; transport services);

· compare problems in ensuring the delivery of services in the light of the rule of law in the five selected areas;  

· review the compliance of local authorities’ actions with the principles of transparency and access to information; 

· develop recommendations and possible courses of action for improvement of the overall compliance with the rule of law in the selected areas of service delivery.

3. Training program “Rule of Law and Rule-Making by Local Self-Government Authorities”. 

The training program is a continuation of the trainings “The Rule of Law in the Operation of Local Self-Government Authorities in Ukraine” and “Observance of the Rule of Law Principles in the Delivery of Administrative Services”. Its purpose is to increase the participants’ level of knowledge and professional understanding of the concept of local rulemaking through the prism of the rule of law and to develop skills of effective use of this tool for the protection of human rights and democracy at the institutional level of local self-governance.

In 2018  4 three-day practical cluster trainings were held in different cities of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Odesa, Truskavets, Zaporizhzhia). Participants of the trainings included employees of executive bodies of 16 city councils of the cities participating in the project, and in some cases mayors, city council members, and public activists.

The key objectives of the training are:

● to improve understanding of the rule of law principles and their manifestations in the process of local rulemaking, identifying the main gaps and weaknesses of this process in municipalities;

● to develop the necessary skills of local government officials/employees for proper local rule-making in accordance with the rule of law;

● to promote motivation of local government officials/employees for practical implementation and application of the rule of law in the preparation, examination and adoption of local regulations by local self-government authorities.

4. Practical school for representatives of non-governmental organizations “The Rule of Law in Your City”. The experts of the Center organized and conducted the first module of this school “Rule of Law in the Operation of Local Self-Government Authorities: Legal Aspects” in Kyiv. 

The participants of this training included representatives of the public (representatives of public organizations, volunteers, journalists, activists) from 15 cities participating in the Project. 

The main goal of this training was to promote individual participation of citizens and communities of citizens in establishing the principles of the rule of law in the operation of  local self-government authorities, in particular by monitoring their activities, increasing the accountability  and responsibility of officials for observing the rights and freedoms of citizens.