Abstract. The analytical note is devoted to a comparative analysis of the legislation and established practice of using state symbols, in particular flags, in the European Parliament and parliaments of foreign states. The research covers the legislation and practice of 15 states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Estonia, Spain, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, the United States of America, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, as well as the European Parliament. In the context of general trends in the development of legislation, complex detailed acts with a comprehensive regulatory approach are distinguished (Latvia, the USA, the Czech Republic); special acts with a moderate regulatory approach (Slovenia, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria); as well as regulation based on established practice (tradition) or internal rules (Canada, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain, European Parliament).

Key words: Constitution of Ukraine, state flag, state symbols, legal regulation, parliamentary institutions, public institutions, procedure for using flags, international experience, legislative act, flag protocol.

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09/2025

Abstract. The Analytical note presents the results of a study of the legal regulation of the quantitative composition of parliaments in the EU member States. The correlation between the quantitative composition of the parliament and the population of the state is established. The experience of European countries in reducing the number of parliaments (on the example of Italy, France, Hungary and Germany) is presented.

Keywords: quantitative composition of parliament, population, member of parliament, constitution, constitutional reform.

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06/2025

Abstract. The analytical note examines the legal regulation and peculiarities of the functioning of three models of the military ombudsman institution in countries such as Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. It also summarizes data on the activities of military ombudsmen in 18 European countries.

It analyzes the legislative and regulatory acts of national legislation in this area.

It identifies the peculiarities of legislative protection of human rights and freedoms in the armed forces of European countries and outlines the prospects for the development of the military ombudsman institution in Ukraine.

Keywords: protection of rights, servicemen, ombudsman, military ombudsman, legal status, armed forces, control powers.

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06/2025

Abstract. The analytical note presents the results of a study of legal regulation of the requirements for compatibility of a parliamentarian's mandate with other activities in the EU Member States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Also, the provisions of EU acts on the incompatibility of the mandate of a MEP are analysed. Both common and different approaches to the settlement of the issue of incompatibility of the parliamentary mandate with other activities were identified.

Keywords: incompatibility of a deputy's mandate with other activities, constitution, deputy, senator, government, member of government.

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05/2025

Abstract. The analytical note presents the results of a study of the legal regulation of transcribing plenary sessions of European parliaments, the procedure for preparing plenary session transcripts, methods of ensuring the quality of transcription and processing of speech information, the procedure and terms for publishing plenary session transcripts and their archiving, as well as legal, technical, and information support for the preparation of transcripts of parliamentary committee meetings.

Key words: transcript, stenographic protocol, plenary session of the parliament, meeting of a parliamentary committee, methods of stenography.

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04/2025

Abstract. The analytical note examines the foreign experience of cancellation of decisions adopted by parliaments in connection with breach of the procedure during consideration and voting for laws and other acts. The Rules of Legislative Procedure of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, and the European Parliament are analysed. As a result, it is established that the practice of cancellation of decisions made by Parliament on the adoption of laws in general and/or cancellation of any decisions, in particular, due to a breach of the procedure for consideration and voting on laws and other acts, is not prevalent in European countries.

Keywords: legislative process, legitimacy of the legislative process, legislative procedure, acts of parliament, cancellation of the act of parliament.

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04/2025

Abstract. The analytical note highlights international standards and recommendations of international organisations on ensuring the human right to information, access to information, the right to personal data protection, democratic principles of public authorities, building an information society and developing e-democracy in the context of the implementation of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Strengthening Certain Guarantees of Media and Journalists’ Activities and Ensuring the Right of Citizens to Access Information’. In this aspect, the study analyses provisions of foreign legislation on coverage of the activities of parliamentary committees, attendance of meetings of parliamentary committees (chambers of parliament) by journalists, media workers, and representatives of NGOʼs, including via video conferencing, and posting and storage of relevant information on official parliamentary websites on the Internet. The analytical basis for this study is the experience of parliaments of countries with high, relatively high and medium democracy indexes and the corresponding level of technological development: Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the USA, Israel, Germany, Norway, and the European Parliament.

Keywords: right to information, access to information, guarantees of media activity, journalists' rights, openness of the parliament, parliamentary committee, committee meetings, publicity in the work of parliamentary committees.

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03/2025

Abstract. The analytical note presents a comparative analysis and generalisation of the legal regulation of the implementation and functioning of the starosta institute in the EU MS and Ukraine. In particular, the experience of such EU member states as Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Czech Republic, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Greece and Ireland is considered.

Keywords: local self-government, territorial community, local self-government bodies, local self-government officials, starosta, starosta’s district.

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02/2025

Abstract. The Note analyses the models of parliamentary budget offices developed for the purpose of establishing an independent fiscal institution in Ukraine for compliance with the requirements of Council Directive (EU) 2011/85/EU and other EU legislation, as well as the OECD Recommendations on Independent Fiscal Institutions.

Keywords: independent fiscal institutions, parliamentary budget office, Directive 2011/85/EU on the requirements for the budgetary framework of the Member States, OECD Recommendations on Independent Fiscal Institutions.

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12/2024

Abstract. The analytical note examines foreign experience regarding the legal regime of access to parliamentary premises, in the context of determining the features of access for certain categories of persons, in particular, family members of a parliamentarian (child), persons accompanying a parliamentarian with disabilities, persons working for a parliamentarian but not being employees of the parliament. The regulatory and legal acts of the G7 countries (USA, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada) and some other European countries were analyzed. The research also used the ECPRD Database and the survey data “Promoting inclusive participation in parliamentary and political life”. The research was conducted with the aim of taking into account the best foreign practices in the legislation of Ukraine.

Key words: parliamentarian, admission to parliament, legal regime of access to parliament, state security of parliament premises, members of the parliamentarian's family, children, a person accompanying a parliamentarian with disability.

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12/2024