On March 3, 2021 the Ukraine Parliament’s Committee on Legal Policy of the Ukrainian Parliament considered the four draft laws on lobbying from 2020 as unconstitutional and decided to propose that they are not included in the Parliamentary agenda. This is an important win for CSOs who have been vocal about their concerns: the draft laws would have limited their possibility to engage in advocacy and express their opinions on draft bills, including on ones that affect their own operation.
ECNL has been supporting Ukrainian partners upholding their right to participation: we shared comparative experiences and helped frame arguments to protect CSOs’ ability to participate in the decision-making process amplifying the messages that a broad definition of what constitutes lobbying may negatively affect CSOs. We also analyzed the compliance of one of the draft laws (3059-2) with international standards related to the right to participation and freedom of expression and association. Draft Law 3059-2 was considered as the most progressive out of the four drafts, as it excluded certain CSOs from its restrictive scope. Still, this exclusion was limited and the lack of clear distinction between advocacy, public participation and lobbying meant that CSOs’ ability to speak for the people they represent was in danger.
While these proposals are shelved for now, we need to remain vigilant and address similar restrictions that may emerge in the future.