Rules of Procedure for Providing Analytical and Informational Materials of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Criteria for Their Quality Assessment

1. The Rules of Procedure for Providing Analytical and Informational Materials of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Criteria for Their Quality Assessment (hereinafter – the Rules) regulate the provision of analytical and informational materials by the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Research Service) and define the criteria for assessing their quality.

2. The Research Service provides analytical and informational materials, guided by the principles set out in the Regulations on the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

3. Analytical and informational materials of the Research Service are the result of research, informational and analytical support for the activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its bodies, Members of Parliament, and parliamentary factions (deputy groups) in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

4. Types of analytical and informational materials of the Research Service, their structure and timeframes for their preparation:

1) scientific concept for the development of legislative regulation of social relations (up to 50 pages, preparation time – up to 30 days), consisting of:

a) an introductory part defining the purpose, goals, and objectives of the concept,; justification of the feasibility of its development; information on the main factors affecting the content of branch legislation; a general description of branch legislation; a mechanism for ensuring the development of branch legislation; and current challenges in improving branch legislation;

b) the main part, containing proposals on the main ways to solve the problems of branch legislation; the procedure for implementing the concept and the expected results of its implementation;

2) guide to legislation (up to 500 pages, preparation time – up to 60 days) consisting of:

a) an introductory part defining the purpose and providing a general overview of existing legislation;

b) the main part, structured into sections, taking into account the priority of legal regulation of the most important areas of public relations. The structure of the main part is based on relevant methodological approaches, including the search criterion of the official website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The sections include subsections containing analytical overviews of current legislation in the relevant areas of legal regulation, classified according to the attached thematic rubric, as well as annotations of the basic legislative acts that form the relevant sectors or institutions of the national legislation system;

c) appendices: “Legislation of Ukraine” (by the chronology of adoption) and “Subject Index of Current Legislation”;

3) parliamentary study (up to 30 pages, preparation time - up to 30 days) consisting of:

a) an introductory part describing the problem and defining the purpose and scope of the study;

b) the main part containing a summary of the material with relevant references and addressing the issue raised in the request. The main part of the parliamentary study may be divided into sections and subsections (depending on the subject matter and shall include:

modern doctrinal (domestic and foreign) approaches to the subject matter of the study;

a brief retrospective review of legal regulation of the subject matter  (if essential for understanding its current state);

international standards and international obligations of Ukraine in the relevant area (if any);

foreign experience in legal regulation in accordance with the subject of analysis (if essential);

risks of the draft laws (if any);

possible predicted legal impact and consequences of adoption/rejection of relevant draft laws;

c) conclusions containing an analytical response to the question posed in the request;

4) analytical note on Comparative Law (up to 20 pages, preparation time – up to 30 days) consisting of:

a) an abstract summarising the content of the note;

b) an introductory part describing the general characteristics of the research area, if necessary, defining the purpose of the research, and providing justification;

c) the main part (which may be divided into sections and subsections), addressing the issues raised or substantiating the absence of certain information. Information on legislative acts of foreign countries shall be provided with references to the sources of information;

d) conclusions and proposals containing an analytical response to the issue raised in the request;

e) appendices (if necessary), provided in the form of comparative tables or other graphical or textual materials;

5) review dossier (up to 10 pages, preparation time – up to 14 days) consisting of:

a) an abstract describing the issue that is the subject of the request;

b) the main part, summarising the material addressing the issue of the request;

c) a summary of positions (conclusions) containing a brief analytical conclusion on the issue raised in the request;

6) informational reference (up to 3 pages, preparation time – up to 7 days) consisting of:

a) an introduction  containing a general description of the area/subject of research and the issue raised in the request;

b) the main part, containing a brief overview of the main aspects of the current public policy issue, matters related to the processing of draft laws under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and consideration of the White Paper submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

c) conclusions containing a brief analytical summary of the issue raised in the request;

7) proposals for a draft law (up to 10 pages, preparation time – up to 7 days) consisting of:

a) a descriptive part outlining the purpose of the draft law; its compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine and international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; and a general analysis of the draft law;

b) an appendix (if necessary) in the form of a comparative table containing:

the wording submitted by the subject of the right of legislative initiative;

the proposed wording, based on the comments and suggestions set out in the descriptive part;

a brief justification of the proposed changes;

8) proposals for the Legislative Work Plan of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (up to 100 pages, preparation time – up to 10 days), consisting of a table containing information on the following:

a) issues requiring legislative regulation (indicative title of the draft law, its purpose and subject of regulation);

b) justification for the need to adopt the draft law and the expected legal and other consequences of its adoption;

c) registration number and date of submission of the draft law (if any);

d) the standing committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expected to be responsible for drafting (submitting) the draft law;

9) analytical note on results of monitoring the implementation of the Legislative Work Plan of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (up to 100 pages, preparation time – up to 10 days), consisting of a table containing information on the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the implementation of the Legislative Work Plan of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in relation to the issues ans activities defined therein;

10) analytical report on results of activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – informational and analytical material for newly elected MPs (up to 500 pages, preparation time – up to 30 days) consisting of:

a) an introductory part containing information on the period of legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the respective convocation and providing a general overview of the state of legislation;

b) the main part containing sections based on the priority of legal regulation of the most important areas of public relations. The sections include subsections containing an analytical review of the legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the respective convocation; as well as a list of issues that remain unresolved and require legislative regulation;

c) appendices containing information on:

the main indicators of the legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the respective convocation;

a list of public policy issues requiring legislative regulation.

5. Analytical and informational materials of the Research Service shall contain the following disclaimer:

"This document has been prepared by the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as a reference informational and analytical paper. The information and positions contained herein do not represent the official position of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its bodies or officials. This paper may be quoted, reproduced and translated for non-commercial purposes, provided that the source is properly acknowledged".

6. If, for objective reasons, the analytical and informational materials of the Research Service cannot be prepared within the established timeframe due to their volume and complexity or the need to involve additional resources, the Head of the Research Service shall notify the requesting customer and agree on an alternative deadline.

7. Priority in preparing analytical and informational materials is given to requests from:

1) the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

2) the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

3) the Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

4) bodies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

5) parliamentary factions (parliamentary groups) in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

6) Members of Parliament;

7) leadership of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

8) an official of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – a correspondent of the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation.

In the event that several requests are received from the entities referred to in sub-clauses 4–6 of this clause, the order of priority shall be determined by the date of submission of the relevant request.

8. In order to ensure the timely preparation of analytical and informational materials the Head of the Research Service may contact the customer to clarify the information provided in the request submitted to the Research Service.

9. The Research Service does not provide analytical and informational materials upon request concerning issues that:

1) are of private or commercial interest to the customer;

2) have been received by the customer from constituents or other entities;

3) relate to analysing the financial impact of decisions;

4) concern the interests of political parties and participation in the election campaign;

5) involve the interpretation of court judgements, acts of executive authorities and local self-government bodies.

The Research Service does not prepare reports or speeches for the customer.

10. The purpose of quality assessment of analytical and informational materials of the Research Service is to determine their compliance with the criteria set forth in these Rules. Such quality assessment is carried out through external and internal control.

External control of the quality assessment of the analytical and informational materials of the Research Service is exercised by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Internal control of the quality assessment of the analytical and informational materials of the Research Service is performed by the Head of the Research Service.

11. The criteria for quality assessment of analytical and informational materials prepared by the Research Service are as follows:

1) respect for human rights – ensuring the priority of human and civil rights and freedoms in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine and laws of Ukraine;

2) legal certainty – clarity, unambiguity of presentation;

3) legality – compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine and laws of Ukraine;

4) political impartiality – avoidance of the influence of political views, refraining from demonstrating a personal attitude toward political parties or personal political views;

5) good faith – focus on protecting public interests and refusal to allow private interests to prevail;

6) topicality and objectivity – importance, relevance to current needs, accuracy, correctness, and freedom from the influence of subjective positions;

7) punctuality – compliance with established deadlines;

8) scientific validity – disclosure of cause-and-effect relationships of phenomena, processes, and events; conducting research on the basis of scientifically substantiated knowledge and reliable sources;

9) completeness – sufficiency of information and compliance with the established requirements of the formulation;

10) practical value – the possibility of its use in parliamentary activities;

11) consistency – taking into account  accumulated experience and ensuring continuity;

12) accessibility of perception – clarity and coherence.