Reform of administrative supervision over local self-government authorities: analysis of draft law no. 13150 after the first reading

On May 13, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported Draft Law No. 13150 at first reading. The draft aims to establish a system of supervision over the legality of actions taken by local self-government bodies. 

Today, Ukraine is the only European country that has not implemented a system of supervision over the legality of local government acts at the legislative level. The purpose of the Draft Law No. 13150 is to create a system to ensure the legality of acts of local self-government bodies and officials through the introduction of administrative supervision, in accordance with Article 144 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Such supervision will help to strengthen the system of checks and balances of public authorities and ensure their compliance with the Constitution and national legislation.

Transparency International Ukraine has conducted a thorough analysis of the draft law and identified several issues that require substantial improvement before the second reading.

Brief conclusions:

• Draft Law No. 13150 does not meet the requirements of the Ukraine Facility Plan, as it fails to provide for the transformation of local state administrations into prefecture-type bodies, which is necessary to establish a proportionate system of administrative supervision for ensuring legality in the activities of local self-government bodies;
• The provisions of this draft law also introduce state control over local self-government bodies, which does not fully align with Article 8 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government concerning administrative supervision over local authorities, nor with Article 140 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Our recommendations: 

• Substantially revise the text of Draft Law No. 13150 between the first and second readings to ensure the creation of an effective and proportionate model of legality supervision over local self-government bodies by local state administrations.
• Take into account the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Concept of the Reform of Local Self-Government and Territorial Organisation of Power in Ukraine, as well as the requirements of the Ukraine Facility Plan.

KEY AMENDMENTS TO THE UPDATED DRAFT LAW

Until recently, four draft laws aimed at regulating supervision of the legality of actions taken by local self-government bodies were registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The first and principal of these was Draft Law No. 4298 (already adopted at first reading), followed by three more: Nos. 13124, 13150, and 13150-1. Subsequently, the Verkhovna Rada also adopted Draft Law No. 13150 as a basis. This draft law, in particular, provides for the following:

• Administrative supervision of the legality of regulations of regional councils shall be exercised by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine or a central executive authority designated by it
• Administrative supervision of local acts adopted by village, settlement, city, and district councils shall be exercised by regional state administrations
• In the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, pending the adoption of a separate law, administrative supervision shall also be exercised by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
• Administrative supervision bodies shall be obliged to respond within 60 days of the entry into force of an act of a local self-government body
• If violations of legislation in local self-government acts are identified, local state administrations or the Cabinet of Ministers shall require that violations be eliminated or corrected within 20 working days.
• If the request is ignored, the supervisory authority has the right to initiate a lawsuit to cancel the act of the local self-government body.
• The establishment of a Unified State Register of Local Self-Government Acts  is proposed.

In addition, the draft law expands the powers of the heads of local state administrations, granting them the authority to coordinate the activities of territorial bodies of ministries and other state institutions, demand the annulment of unlawful orders issued by the heads of these bodies, and appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers in cases where ministries ignore such demands. However, there is no clear division of powers between different supervisory bodies, and there are no rules that would prevent duplication of functions of supervisory entities. Furthermore, there are no procedural specifics for judicial appeals against local government acts under the supervision procedure. 

STATE CONTROL OR SUPERVISION?

At present, the provisions of this draft law introduce the concept of “state control” over local self-government, which is inconsistent with Article 8 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government concerning administrative supervision of local authorities, as well as Articles 19 and 140 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Abovementioned legal acts do not provide for state control or management of local self-government — only supervision of legality. It is clear that local self-government bodies must not be subordinated to state administrations, as such subordination would threaten their autonomy.

In its current version, Draft Law No. 13150 does not address the reform of local state administrations at all; rather, it focuses exclusively on the mechanism of supervision by regional state administrations over local self-government acts. The authors of the draft propose controversial amendments to the current Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine”. In particular, they suggest that the bodies and officials exercising state control over local self-government acts should be subordinated to authorities responsible for ensuring the rule of law, mainly regional state administrations. 

Such an approach would lead to an excessive and insufficiently regulated concentration of administrative influence by regional state administrations over local self-government bodies and their officials. This violates the requirements of Article 8 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which stipulates that […any administrative supervision of local authorities may only be exercised according to such procedures and in such cases as are provided for by the constitution or by statute]. The proposed model of state control would apply to all acts of local self-government authorities, both in respect of their own and delegated powers. This could ultimately undermine the autonomy of local self-government and dismantle the achievements of the decentralization reform.

UNIFIED REGISTER OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS

A potentially positive innovation in Draft Law No. 13150 could be the proposal to establish a Unified State Register of Local Self-Government Acts. This would involve the creation of a state information and communication system designed to collect, store, process, and maintain acts adopted by local self-government bodies and officials, which would serve as a tool for administrative supervision. The Cabinet of Ministers is designated as the administrator of this register. However, this proposal also contains latent risks: excessive state control over local self-government and the potential for manual entry of acts into the register. The draft proposes that the register be composed of two independent subsystems — one for open information and another for information with restricted access. Yet the current Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” does not include the concept of “information with restricted access” in relation to all acts of local self-government bodies. Evidently, such an innovation would unjustifiably reduce the transparency of both the acts of local self-government bodies and the institutions of local self-government as public authorities. The draft law is set to enter into force twelve months after the termination or cancellation of martial law.

CONCLUSION

To ensure compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and the Ukraine Facility Plan, the introduction of high-quality, effective, and proportionate supervision of legality in the activities of local self-government bodies should be based on a comprehensive reform of local state administrations and adhere to the following principles:

• Ensuring a proportional supervision model, in which the supervisory authority bears the burden of proving its position before a court.
• The cancellation or suspension of decisions adopted by local self-government bodies should be carried out exclusively through judicial proceedings, except in cases involving threats to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, state security, or urgent emergency situations.
• The leadership of local state administrations should be depoliticized and composed of professional civil servants.
• A clear division of powers between local state administrations and local self-government bodies, serving as a foundation for effective and proper governance.
• The powers and responsibilities of all public authorities and local self-government bodies should be defined exclusively by national legislation.

Draft Law No. 13150 fails to adequately address any of the key concerns outlined above. Therefore, it requires substantial and systemic revision before the second reading to establish genuinely sound conditions for the successful continuation of decentralization reform and the real development and strengthening of the institution of local self-government in Ukraine. Lawmakers must take a responsible approach to improving Draft Law No. 13150, taking into account both current realities and the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on supervision over local authorities.