ZMINA joins Ministry of Justice group which will assess adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law

Onysiia Syniuk, legal analyst at Human Rights Centre ZMINA, joined the group of the Ministry of Justice which will conduct an initial assessment of the progress of implementation of EU law in Ukraine. 

At the end of February this year, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a document based on which the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law will be assessed and inconsistencies and gaps that must be eliminated to prepare Ukraine for EU accession negotiations will be defined. 

The Ministry of Justice has an obligation to conduct an initial assessment of the progress of implementation of EU law acts which are included in the negotiation section on the judiciary, fundamental rights, as well as in the section on justice, freedom, and security. For this purpose, the Ministry of Justice created appropriate working groups which consist of representatives of scientific and educational institutions, international technical assistance projects, NGOs, leading specialists and experts in the relevant fields. 

On July 26, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration Liudmyla Suhak held the first meeting with representatives of NGOs. Representatives of the Directorate for Strategic Planning and European Integration also joined the meeting. 

NGOs were represented at the meeting, in particular, by Pravo-Justice, Transparency International Ukraine, Privacy HUB, Centre of Policy and Legal Reform, Human Rights Centre ZMINA, Agency for Legislative Initiatives, and Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Civil society representatives expressed their willingness to participate in the initial assessment of the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation. 

“It is very important that this assessment is carried out with the involvement of NGOs, especially in the areas of human rights, the rule of law, anti-corruption activities, and anti-discrimination measures. Representatives of civil society have significant expertise in these issues, their involvement ensures the transparency of the process so that the assessment is carried out not to ‘put a tick’ but to genuinely improve Ukrainian legislation and harmonize it with European standards,” commented ZMINA legal analyst Onysiia Syniuk.