FEATURES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RIGHT TO ACCESS TO INFORMATION REGARDING LAW-MAKING ACTIVITY (IN THE CONTEXT OF ARTICLE 6 OF THE LAW OF UKRAINE «ON LAW-MAKING ACTIVITY»)

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of exercising the right to access to information on law-making activities in the context of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Law-Making Activities. One of the key tasks of lawmaking in Ukraine is to adapt national legislation to international standards. This includes not only taking into account the provisions of universal international conventions, treaties and acts adopted by influential international organisations such as the UN, UNESCO, UNCITRAL, but also compliance with the principles and standards of the acquis communautaire, the legal system of the European Union.

This process includes harmonisation of Ukrainian laws with EU legal norms, as well as their implementation to ensure the same standards and approaches. Such adaptation should facilitate Ukraine's integration into the European legal space, which implies compliance with European principles such as the rule of law, human rights protection, economic freedoms, etc.

Recently, Ukraine has been paying more and more attention to lawmaking. Following the adoption of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Lawmaking’, which for the first time legally enshrined the lawmaking process in our country, guarantees of access to information on lawmaking are of great importance, and they allow making this process as transparent as possible.

The author describes the legislative guarantees of the right to access to information on lawmaking, namely: the obligation of lawmakers to provide and publish information on lawmaking in the manner, scope and timeframe(s) determined by law; access to meetings of representative lawmakers in the manner prescribed by Ukrainian legislation; 3) exercise of state and public control over the observance of the right to access to information on lawmaking; 4) determination of the legislative framework for lawmaking; and 5) determination of the scope of the right to access to information on lawmaking.

The author concludes that the legislation provides for sufficient guarantees of the right to access to public information. However, when analysing the provisions of law, the question arises as to what ‘information on lawmaking activities’ includes. In order to eliminate this gap, it is necessary to define its list by law.