TO THE AUTHORITY – TO THE COMMUNITIES

It is in this situation that civic actions could have an impact, primarily with the participation of public organizations. Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” regulates the conduct of a special procedure – public hearings. Thus, “… a territorial

community

has

the right

to hold

public hearings,

meet

with

deputies

of the corresponding

council and officials of local self-government bodies, during which members of the territorial community can listen to them, ask questions and make proposals on issues of local importance that are within the scope of local self-government.”

Holding such events is not yet widespread enough in Ukraine, but they are a very powerful mechanism for promoting the interests of citizens, because “… proposals,

which

are made

based on

the results
of

public hearings,

are

subject to

mandatory

consideration

by

local self-government bodies”. That is, the decisions of these hearings have legitimate force, to which representatives of the authorities are obliged to listen.

It is by using this mechanism in the interests of human rights protection that one can promote and establish such protection at the state level.

Therefore, the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, with the support of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, has begun implementing a project that, taking into account the previous experience of public organizations, involves the use of local initiatives to adjust state policy in the field of human rights.

The goal of the project is to develop relevant recommendations for amending the current legislation of Ukraine, as well as recommendations to the government of the country on reforming the main legal institutions of the state in matters of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms through supporting local initiatives in the form of a series of public hearings on the aforementioned issues in the regions of Ukraine.

The project envisages holding six public hearings in six different regions of Ukraine. This will be followed by a series of meetings with government officials to lobby for proposals made during the public hearings.

At the second stage of the project, it is planned to publish a collection of all resolutions from the public hearings and distribute it to the maximum number of stakeholders who can influence the situation.