Experts say there are no political obstacles to the adoption of a new law on non-governmental organizations
There are no political obstacles to the adoption of a new law on non-governmental organizations. Such was the conclusion of an expert discussion held between people’s deputies of Ukraine, representatives of the presidential administration and experts from leading think tanks, on the initiative of the Civil Society Impact Enchancement Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Executive Director of the Network of European Law Centers Oleksandr Vinnikov stressed that a new law must be adopted because current Ukrainian legislation does not meet the standards of the Council of Europe. According to the expert, the biggest difference between European standards and current Ukrainian law is that non-governmental organization can only defend the rights and interests of their members. In addition, the existing law limits the activities of non-governmental organizations based on territory. The draft law “On non-governmental organizations” (№7262-1), which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading, aims to remove these and other inconsistencies with European standards.
“There have been no major political differences during the work on the bill,” said Ihor Koliushko, head of the board of the Centre for Political and Legal Reforms. “In preparing the bill on non-governmental organizations, complex professional discussions revolved more around terminology and technical and legal issues expressed by members of the working group.”
Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky said: “Given the strategic importance of this bill for the development of civil society in Ukraine, the Foundation will support the effective operation of the working group. Leading experts in this field, no doubt, will have the opportunity to express their professional position during the revision of the bill.”
The International Renaissance Foundation
Stanislav Lyachinsky
(+38 044) 486 24 74
pr@irf.ua
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The goal of the Civil Society Impact Enchancement Program is to promote development of a system to protect the rights of public and municipal service consumers and to support NGO policy capacity building.
