Parliament re-adopted the long-awaited draft law No. 3475 “On Administrative Procedure,” considering the proposals of the President. The law establishes clear rules of communication between citizens and authorities when receiving administrative services. This will help establish the legality of the actions of the bodies, their objectivity, and fairness.
How was it before?
In order to receive a service from the state (for example, registration of documents, various payments or business), citizens had to go through several bureaucratic stages, full of specific requirements. To speed up the process, each side could resort to corrupt decisions: demand bribes or offer them.
What has changed?
With the entry into force of the law (12 months after its publication), public administration bodies are obliged to follow the rules when making decisions on the rights and obligations of individuals and legal entities. In particular, the law “On Administrative Procedure” provides for:
- the introduction of the category of “interested persons” in the administrative procedure and mechanisms for protection of the rights and legitimate interests of such persons;
- the rules on impartiality of officials of administrative bodies and the procedure for their recusal/self-recusal;
- the obligation of administrative bodies to substantiate their acts and indicate the procedure for their appeal;
- the right of a person to be heard before a decision is taken;
- simpler rules on representation in administrative proceedings (in particular, without a notarized power of attorney of the representative);
- the administrative act to come into force only after informing the person;
- the invalidation of the administrative act and its enforcement to operate under the new rules.
With the adoption of this law, the reform of public administration is not completed. Further, it is necessary to bring numerous bylaws into line with the law, implement the analysis and assessment of corruption risks of the relevant bodies in the regulatory acts and anti-corruption programs, develop and provide the necessary training activities, etc.
This law should help establish the legality of the actions of administrative bodies, their objectivity, and fairness in decision-making. Read more about the innovations offered by the law in our legal analysis.
Let us remind you that this is the second adoption of this law. It was already voted by the Verkhovna Rada, but the President vetoed it. What exactly Zelenskyy offered, read here.
