“The ZAZ establishes in the Ukrainian legislation a European model of relations between the citizen and the public administration.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
The rules of the game have become clear The ZAZ introduced a general administrative procedure, which communicates citizens with executive and local self -government bodies. A clear algorithm of actions is fixed for all administrative bodies.
Previously, in each area there were “its” rules, then Zap unified them. Universal standards are now introduced to allow a citizen to easily navigate relations with different bodies. This concerns the order of submission of the application and documents; terms of decision making; the order of administrative appeal.
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Citizens could often be refused without notifying the reasons for such a decision. The Zap obliged the authorities in a negative decision for the citizen (refusal of permission, subsidies, imposing an obligation to pay a fine, etc.) to give a justification. If there is no motivation, this is the basis for canceling such a decision.
In addition, it should be stated at what time, to which body and to which court a citizen may appeal against a decision he disagrees with. In the absence of such information, a citizen has the right to file a complaint.
New guarantees for citizens The UZ enshrined other important provisions:
- The body shall not have the right to refuse to accept and register an application because of errors in it or lack of documents. He is obliged to register the application and notify the applicant that it is necessary to correct, to give the opportunity to eliminate the shortcomings – without changing the date of submission. For example, if a citizen incorrectly stated any information in the statement, did not attach the necessary document or did not pay for the service, he will not immediately refuse what he asks. The body should provide an opportunity to rewrite the application (correct errors), convey (send) a document or pay an administrative fee. This approach is also a fuse against abuse by officials – if something is wrong with the documents, the authority is obliged to notify the person in writing.
- The body is obliged to advise a citizen on all issues concerning the case. This is a guarantee that the applicant will correctly draw up the documents and receive a positive decision.
- The citizen must be informed of the beginning of the proceedings against him. Even if the case is not directly related to the citizen, but the decision on it can adversely affect his rights, freedoms and legitimate interests, the authorities must notify the case in order for the citizen to be able to join the proceedings and present his position in the case. For example, if a citizen is planned to be placed or construction of a shopping center near the place of residence, the authority must inform residents about it and involve in proceedings as interested persons. This will allow citizens to defend their positions in the case, and the authorities – to take into account the opinions of people.
- A citizen, whether he or she is the addressee or interested person, has the right to get acquainted with the case file, to express his position, to provide explanations or additional documents before the decision is made. That is, the principle of “no decisions without you” applies. Yes, a citizen has the right to demand to provide the case of the case for bringing him or her to administrative responsibility. If the housing area is planned to build a shopping center, residents of the surrounding areas have the right to know about the height of the planned building, its location, etc.
- The body shall not have the right to require a citizen of certificates and documents that are already available in public authorities and local self -government or public registers. Now the duty to demand these documents is on the body, not on the person. The citizen now does not need to receive various certificates and extracts from the registers to submit them to the authorities. This not only simplifies the life of a citizen, but also eliminates corruption risks.
- The decision of the administrative body shall enter into force from the moment of bringing it to the attention of the citizen – by registered letter, e -mail or other prescribed manner. This avoids situations where a citizen learns about an important postfactum decision. This also means that the course of the term of appeal is associated with the moment of familiarization with the decision, and not with the day of its adoption. This approach is fair, it guarantees that a citizen will have enough time to decide whether to challenge the decision, write a complaint and file it. In matters with several (or even many participants), all citizens will have the same appeal time, regardless of when they learned (or should learn) about the decision.
More opportunities to protect The decision may be appealed to a higher level body, and in the absence of it – to the same administrative body, if it is formed a complaint commission. Such commissions consist not only of the officials of the body, but also representatives of civil society, who will be able to evaluate the contested decision “fresh look”.
The citizen now files a complaint to a body whose decisions, actions or omissions challenges, and he, together with the case file, must transfer (send) it to the subject to consider the complaint.
At the same time, as a general rule, filing a complaint at the request of a person suspends the appealed administrative act.
The complaint review period should not exceed 30 calendar days, but other terms may be set in special laws.
Such a mechanism allows citizens to defend their rights without going to court – faster, easier and more accessible.
However, we remember that judicial protection is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine.
In order to better understand what has changed the ZAZ for a person, we model the typical path of a citizen who goes to the authorities, for example, to receive social assistance or registration of a land.
Earlier: The application was usually not accepted by the body due to errors or incomplete package of documents. The citizen had to receive certificates, extracts, rewrite the application, and then re -apply to the body. If a citizen received a refusal decision, it often did not contain a justification – the reasons for the refusal were not explained. The appeal procedure was unclear.
Now: The body is obliged to register an application, even if it is inaccurate or incomplete data or not all the necessary documents are added to it, or these documents are incorrectly issued. The body has to inform the applicant that with AME should be corrected and time to do it. The date of submission of the application remains unchanged. The information that is in the state registers is trimmed by the body. The negative (denial) decision should be motivated, with clear explanations for the reasons for its adoption. The citizen must be informed of the terms and procedure of appeal.
Another example is when a citizen is brought to administrative responsibility:
If the driver violated traffic rules and a police officer is imposed on the spot, now he is entitled to submit his explanations for the commissioned one that the police officer has to attach to the case. And when appealing the ruling, these explanations will be evaluated as evidence in the case.
If a citizen was not present in the consideration of an administrative offense case, and received a resolution on imposing an administrative penalty on him some time after its adoption, now the course of the appeal begins not from the date of the decision, but from the date of bringing it to the attention of the citizen.
European law is a European approach The ZAZ establishes in the Ukrainian legislation a European model of relations between the citizen and the public administration. The state acts as a partner who helps citizens to exercise their rights. And the law gives clear instruments how to do it: from the right to be heard to the guarantee of obtaining a motivated decision, from the obligation of the body to act prudently and in good faith – to the possibility of a citizen promptly challenge unlawful actions and decisions.
Until 2022, Ukraine remained almost the only country in Europe without the general law on administrative procedure. Therefore, the adoption and implementation of the ZAZ is a significant step in the implementation of European standards, where a citizen is a full participant in the decision -making process.
It can be confidently stated that in the Ukrainian catalog of human rights there is another important right – to proper administration. And since citizens, by exercising their rights and performing their responsibilities, mostly communicate with executive and local self -government bodies (register real estate, vehicles, birth, marriage, death, receive subsidies, etc.), new rules of such interaction, which are entrenched in the nature of the person.
What has been done by the state to make these guarantees of the citizen’s rights effectively?
Only a year after the ZAZ:
- training was conducted for more than 6 thousand civil servants;
- More than 22,000 citizens have undergone an online course in the general administrative procedure on the platform “Clear”;
- Amendments to almost 200 laws have been approved to reconcile them with the ZAC;
- The portal adminprocedure.org.ua was created – with examples, templates, samples of documents and explanations.
And this is only the beginning. In order for the ZAC to become part of everyday life, it is important that not only public servants but also citizens know about it.
Irina Boyko
A column is a material that reflects the author’s point of view. The text of the column does not claim the objectivity and comprehensive coverage of the topic that rises in it. The editorial board of “Ukrainian Truth” is not responsible for the accuracy and interpretation of the information provided and plays only the role of the carrier. The point of view of the UP editorial board may not coincide with the point of view of the author of the column.