Ukraine has embarked on a wide-ranging process of reform. Much of the region’s future stability depends on success in this 45-million strong country. The momentum is there to overcome a legacy of bureaucratic stagnation, arbitrariness and corruption. But efforts to complete the transition to a modern, prosperous state must contend with a crippling economic crisis and the persistence of conflict in the east of the country. As of 2015, IDLO is working at both the national and regional level to facilitate justice sector reform and promote integrity.
We particularly focus on criminal justice reforms, which are critical to strengthening of the rule of law and democratic institutions in Ukraine. Our work is aligned with Ukraine’s own laws and policies – chiefly the National Justice Sector Reform Strategy, the amended Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Deregulation Strategy – as well as with Ukraine’s international obligations on combatting corruption.
The most advanced yet Public Service Center has opened in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, currently providing over 400 administrative and social services through the one-stop-shop concept that has previously proven successful in Odessa and Mariupol.
For decades, the public sector in Ukraine had been considered deeply corrupt and oftentimes, dysfunctional. Nepotism was an accepted source of both employment and promotion. Applying for and receiving administrative services was usually an exhausting and intimidating experience that could only be avoided through paying bribes.
In response, IDLO has continued to support decentralization and anti-corruption in Ukraine through the establishment of new Public Service Centers (PSCs).
Investment climate to improve through creation of transparent and predictable legal environment
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As in many transition countries, non-enforcement of court decisions in Ukraine remains a key problem which affects not only investor confidence but also the functioning of the whole judiciary. Among particular concerns are lengthy delays, lack of effective measures to prevent and punish debtors who hide assets and evade court orders, few efficient mechanisms for bailiffs to obtain relevant information on debtors’ assets, and vague legislation which creates room for corruption.
On a recent trip to a Central Asian preliminary detention center, the custodians proudly showed us the new ventilation system to prevent from spread of TB – a cut-in window directly across the door.
‘It is a symbol of new Ukrainian public service. It is also a symbol of change and development for the people in the occupied parts of Ukraine,’ said President Petro Poroshenko at the opening of a Public Service Center in the eastern city of Mariupol in the conflict-ridden Donetsk region.
Ukrainian citizens may now apply for same-day marriage under a new pilot project, thanks to efforts by the Ministry of Justice to remove bureaucratic obstacles and deregulate the marriage registration process.
Ukraine has embarked on a wide-ranging process of reform, and the momentum is there to overcome a legacy of bureaucratic stagnation, arbitrariness and corruption. The government has committed itself to the long-term reform of the Ukrainian justice sector, and the President has developed a strategy that identifies the need for increased independence, transparency, competence, accountability and efficiency of the rule of law and justice institutions.
