“At the beginning of October, the fugitive People’s Deputy Dmytruk took part in a meeting of the law enforcement committee. This caused considerable indignation of journalists. Formally, at that time, Dmytruk was still a member of the Committee on Law Enforcement Activities, so “on paper” he had the right to participate in the committee.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
At the beginning of October, the fugitive People’s Deputy Dmytruk took part in a meeting of the law enforcement committee.
This caused considerable indignation of journalists. Formally, at that time, Dmytruk was still a member of the Committee on Law Enforcement Activities, so “on paper” he had the right to participate in the committee. But there is also the ethical side of the issue.
In order to find out about the banal participation of Dmytrouk in the committee, journalists – just think about it – were almost forced to conduct an investigation. After all, most of the meetings of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada can be completely closed as early as 2020 – that is, since the days of “covid”.
Some of the committees now do not publish videos from the committee meetings – even announcements of the meetings with information about which bills will be considered are hidden.
Already this week, the media was outraged by the Budget Committee’s decision to raise the salaries of prosecutors by 37%. All this is against the background of a loud scandal with MSEK and the fake “disability” of Khmelnytskyi prosecutors. The Council did not support such a decision of the committee. However, due to the closed meeting of the committee, the society never found out what was the motivation of those deputies who proposed such a step.
Journalists and the public have been complaining about the total “closedness” of the committees for a long time. For example, the HONEST Movement has been conducting its committee transparency rating for several years. And in February of this year, 67 public organizations and journalists immediately declared that the parliament should become more open to the media and the public.
That is why open broadcasts of the meetings of the Verkhovna Rada committees should become one of the focuses of draft law No. 11321 to promote the work of journalists, which we registered with our colleagues.
Below are at least three reasons why the war is not a reason to restrict journalists and citizens from information about the work of the parliament. And why open committee meetings – in the interests of the deputies themselves.
Why is it important to ensure open meetings of Council committeesOpen broadcasts of committees are a necessary tool for engaging journalists and citizens in the work on legislation.
Now – during the war – the Rada considers draft laws and initiatives that fundamentally change society almost every month.
For developed countries, parliamentary openness necessarily includes live broadcasts of parliamentary committee meetings and the preservation of these records in public access. This clear practice can be seen, for example, from the website of the European Parliament. Anyone can come to a meeting of the Parliament of Great Britain on a “first served basis” basis – that is, until seats in the hall run out, and all committee meetings (with very rare exceptions) can be watched on Parliament TV (similar to our Rada channel) ). You can also easily find the records of meetings of the committees of the US Congress (both the House of Representatives and the Senate).
Of course, the Verkhovna Rada, unlike most parliaments in the world, works today in conditions of war. I often hear arguments from colleagues in the Council that online broadcasting of committee meetings is currently not possible due to security issues. However, practice confirms that in most cases such fears are groundless.
After all, most of the committee meetings in the Council today take place in the format of Zoom conferences. Identifying the location of each People’s Deputy by video is an almost impossible task.
In draft law No. 11321 for the second reading, we actually provided norms for the openness of committees with full consideration of security risks. Among the important differences, compared to the “by 2020” rules:
- meetings can be held online, while journalists and the public must be able to access them;
- open meetings must be broadcast simultaneously or the recording must be posted no later than 24 hours after the end of the committee meeting. In peacetime, only live broadcasting is provided;
- the committee must post information about the meeting 24 hours in advance – with an e-mail address for requests for participation in the meeting.
The exception, of course, will be the meetings of the committees at which issues of state secrets are discussed.
I would like to note separately that the physical meetings of the committees are now quite real and safe. This is proven by our Committee on Freedom of Speech. Yes, our meetings take place exclusively in a physical format with mandatory broadcasting. So far, it has not affected our security.
We also have good examples during the holding of committees where particularly sensitive issues were considered. This is a meeting of the anti-corruption committee of the Verkhovna Rada on the so-called “Reznikov jackets”. At that time, representatives of the defense, financial and budget committees were also present at the meeting – under the watchful eye of journalists.
I would like to add that the Council has already provided for open broadcasts for local councils. However, she still hasn’t set an example for them. Thus, in May of this year, the law came into force, which provides for the mandatory online broadcasting of plenary meetings and meetings of commissions of local self-government bodies. This was also reported on the website of the parliament.
Having foreseen the rules for growth for the regions, the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada have not yet defined similar rules for themselves. This is at least illogical, at most – unfair.
Why haven’t the committees been opened yet? Closedness is always convenient for the authorities. Although the publication of documents, the organization of broadcasts and other activities do not really put a heavy burden on the state apparatus, they still require some effort. And it is very convenient to hold meetings “without extra eyes”, because then you don’t have to think too much about words and hide your own intentions
However, the openness of the work of the parliament is a necessary condition for a real dialogue between the Verkhovna Rada and citizens.
Dialogue, which we need even more in times of war than in times of peace.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn