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

1. The Rules for Providing Analytical and Information Materials of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Criteria for Their Quality Assessment (hereinafter – the Rules) regulates the provision of analytical and information materials of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Research Service) and defines 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. The 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, MPs of Ukraine, 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 time frame for their preparation:

1) the concept of the branch legislation development (up to 50 pages, preparation time – up to 30 days) consists of:

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

b) the main part, which contains 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) consists of:

a) an introductory part that defines the purpose and provides a general description of the existing legislation;

b) the main part, which is structured by sections, taking into account the priority of legal support for the most important areas of public relations. The structuring of the main part is based on relevant methodological approaches, in particular, the search criterion of the official website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The sections include subsections containing an analytical overview of the 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) consists of:

a) an introductory part that describes the problem, defines the purpose and scope of the study;

b) the main part, which contains a summary of the material with relevant references, revealing the issue of the appeal. The main part of the parliamentary research, which may be divided into sections and subsections (depending on the subject matter of the research), shall include

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

a brief retrospective review of the legal regulation of the subject matter of the study (may be added if it is essential for understanding the current state of the subject matter of the study);

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

foreign experience of legal regulation in accordance with the subject of analysis (may be added if it is essential for understanding the current state of the subject of research);

risks of the draft laws (if any);

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

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

4) analytical note on comparative law (up to 20 pages, preparation time – up to 30 days) consists of:

a) an abstract containing a brief summary of the note's content;

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 (may be divided into sections, subsections), which reveals the issues set out in the note or contains justification for the absence of certain information. Information on legislative acts of foreign countries shall be provided with references to the source of information;

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

e) appendices (if necessary), which are provided in the form of a comparative table or other graphical or text materials;

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

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

b) the main part, which contains a summary of the material that reveals the issue of the request;

c) 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) consists of:

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

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

c) conclusions that contain 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) consists of:

a) a descriptive part containing the purpose of the draft law; provisions on the compliance of the draft law with the Constitution of Ukraine and laws of Ukraine, international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; 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 version, based on the comments and suggestions set out in the descriptive part;

a brief substantiation of the proposed changes;

8) proposals for the Plan of Legislative Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (up to 100 pages, preparation time – up to 10 days) consist 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) substantiation of the need to adopt the draft law, expected legal and other consequences of its adoption;

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

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

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

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

a) introductory part, which contains information on the period of legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the respective convocation, and provides a general description of the state of legislation;

b) the main part, which contains 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; 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 relevant convocation;

a list of public policy issues requiring legislative regulation.

5. Analytical and informational materials of the Research Service 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, in view of their volume and complexity, the necessity to attract additional resources, the Head of the Research Service shall notify the requesting customer and agree on another deadline.

7. The Research Service's analytical and informational materials are prepared with the priority given to requests:

1) Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

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

3) 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) people's deputies of Ukraine;

7) management 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 case of receiving several requests from the entities referred to in sub-clauses 4–6 of this clause, the order of priority shall be based on the date of the request of the relevant entity.

8. In order to prepare analytical and informational materials in a timely manner, the Head of the Research Service has the right to contact the customer to clarify the information provided in the request to the Research Service.

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

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

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

3) related to analysing the financial impact of decisions;

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

5) provide explanations of court judgements, acts of executive authorities and local self-government bodies.

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

10. The task of quality assessment of analytical and informational materials of the Research Service is to establish their compliance with the criteria set forth in this Rules. The quality assessment of the analytical and information materials of the Research Service is carried out in the form of external and internal control.

The external control of the quality assessment of the analytical and informational materials of the Research Service is carried out by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The internal control of the quality assessment of analytical and informational materials of the Research Service shall be 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) ensuring legality – compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine and laws of Ukraine;

4) political impartiality – avoidance of influence of political views, refraining from demonstrating personal attitude to political parties and 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 influence of subjective position;

7) punctuality – compliance with the established deadlines;

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

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

10) practical value – the possibility of using it in parliamentary activities;

11) consistency – taking into account the experience and observance of continuity;

12) accessibility of perception – clarity and consistency.