About 60 representatives of the CSOs and departments of justice from seven regions of Ukraine took part in the seminar. The main topics for discussion were: improving the practice of the CSO registration, legal assistance to the CSOs in reporting and compliance with their statutory requirement and acting legislation, as well as legal mechanisms of citizen participation in the government policy development and implementation. Civic leaders had an opportunity to hear first-hand from Olena Semyorkina, Director of the Department of CSO legalization and registration of printed media of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, as well as from the independent experts.
Seminar participants underscored again the shortcomings of the acting legislation concerning civil society, in particular – the notion of a “territorial status” of organizations that often hampers CSO activities. For example, representatives of a CSO from Poltava shared their hesitation about whether they could hold a training session in another region, because their CSO’s “territorial status” limited its activities only to the Poltava region. Activity in a different region could have been construed by regulating bodies as a violation of their CSO’s statutory tasks. A solution to this situation was found at the seminar, but everybody agreed about the urgent need for a new law on civic organizations that would omit the notion of a territorial status of CSOs. The UCIPR’s Programs Manager Maksym Latsyba asked the seminar participants to submit their propositions concerning the text of a draft Law of Ukraine “On Public organizations” that is being developed.
Civic and charitable organizations often have problems not only in their relations with the governmental bodies but also among their founders and members, especially on issues concerning changes in the CSOs’ governing bodies or CSO property disputes. In such cases they have to turn to their organization’s charters that determine functions and responsibilities, decision-making rules and procedures. “The more CSOs comply with their own charters and acting legislation, the less conflicts they will have within organizations and less problems in relations with the governmental bodies. I would like to remind the civic activists that in democratic societies the authorities do not interfere with the internal CSOs’ issues. They should remember that they are responsible before their members, communities and the general public for their decisions and results of their actions” – stated Ms. Semyorkina. She also remarked that a lot of helpful advice on legal issues is available on the web site of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, and encouraged the participants to use this resource more actively.
CSO representatives expressed positive opinions about the seminar. Ihor Brynosh, head of the legal department of the Odesa regional office of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine commented: “The format of a dialogue between representatives of the departments of justice and civic leaders proved to be successful. We received competent answers to important questions, had an opportunity to exchange practical experiences, and made new contacts. Through our own media resources we will disseminate among the CSOs in Odesa region ideas and suggestions concerning the improvement of the compliance with the current legislation that were expressed during the seminar”.
The Head of the secretariat of the Cherkasy regional branch of the youth organization “Democratic Alliance” Serhiy Slynko remarked: “It was useful that one of the seminar sessions was attended by a representative of the tax department, the department of statistics and the registrar’s office, because any CSO has to deal with these bodies. It was interesting to hear how they coordinate their work on issues of CSO reporting”. Serhiy plans to disseminate among the partners of the “Democratic Alliance” an electronic copy of the seminar materials that every participant had received.
The discussion of the mechanisms of citizen participation in the development and monitoring of the governmental decisions implementation turned out quite lively. More and more CSOs embark on public expert reviews of the performance of the bodies of executive power, although this instrument has not yet become wide-spread, according to Mr.Latsyba. He informed that about 40 public expert reviews of the governmental bodies’ performance at various levels had been initiated, but only three had been concluded. He also called on the participants not to use public expert reviews for political purposes. “Public expert reviews will only be effective when they are done responsibly and result in competent conclusions” – stated the expert.
The next similar seminar will be held on May 20, 2010 in Khmelnytsky for the representatives of other regions. “We plan to show an example to the regional departments of justice and encourage them to regularly conduct such events in their regions” – stated the Ministry of Justice representative, Olena Semyorkina. UNDP’s Civil Society Development Programme will contribute to funding the seminar in Khmelnytsky because a constructive dialogue between the departments of justice and civil society leaders is crucial to compliant and effective works of CSOs under current legislation.
More coverage of the event (Ukrainian language) can be viewed here.
The Civil Society Development Programme (CSDP) is funded by the MInistry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme during 2009 - 2012.
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