MPs of the ninth convocation have established perhaps the biggest number of temporary special commissions (TSCs) of all their predecessors. The broad audience is rarely interested in the content of such bodies’ work, although important processes can take place there, e.g., drafting new laws, finding solutions to urgent issues for society, public discussions, etc. We will review why the Verkhovna Rada created temporary special commissions and what areas were of the most interest to MPs, as well as analyse how effective the work of TSCs was during different convocations.
The establishment of temporary special commissions in the Verkhovna Rada is not a new practice of MPs of the ninth convocation: most world parliaments provide for the opportunity to create such bodies, and they have been working in the Verkhovna Rada since its second convocation. In particular, MPs established the largest number of temporary special commissions, eleven, during the fourth and current ninth convocations.
1. Why are temporary special commissions established?
The main purpose of temporary special commissions is to study and resolve a specific issue that cannot be referred to any standing committee. For example, temporary special commissions have been operating at various times in Ukraine to develop legislation for reforms (in particular, administrative reform in the third convocation, the reform of the Security Service of Ukraine in the sixth convocation, etc.), address national security issues, or monitor compliance with electoral legislation. Temporary special commissions are convenient for MPs because they expand their powers (a TSC acts as a main committee) and allow them to “cover” areas that are beyond the competence of the standing committees. At the same time, TSCs serve as an additional platform for discussing problems since their main format of work is meetings to which representatives of central and local authorities, experts, representatives of NGOs and others may be invited.
During the analysed convocations (from the third to the ninth ones), most special commissions dealt with national security issues: protecting Ukrainian territories from external threats (primarily from Russia) and supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The second most important area for MPs was public administration. This category includes commissions established to develop legislation aimed at implementing reforms.
Social security issues rank third. They include control over payments to privileged populations, social protection of veterans and internally displaced persons (such commissions emerged in the Verkhovna Rada after the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and their number only increased after the full-scale invasion in February 2022).
The Verkhovna Rada established six commissions to draft laws amending the Constitution of Ukraine and five more to monitor the observance of citizens’ voting rights during national and local elections.
The tasks assigned by the Verkhovna Rada to temporary special commissions were to investigate certain issues (the largest number of special commissions was established for this purpose) and to inform the Rada of the results.
Temporary special commissions often dealt with legislative work: drafting laws and other regulations (nine cases); revising already developed draft regulations, e.g., introducing changes, amendments, etc. (eleven cases); and preliminary review of draft laws and their preparation for the first or second reading (fourteen special commissions).
In nine other cases, the Verkhovna Rada tasked special commissions with developing recommendations for the authorities (in particular, the Cabinet of Ministers). Finally, in eight cases, the Verkhovna Rada established temporary special commissions to exercise parliamentary oversight: compliance with laws, budgetary spending, or social benefits.
2. Reporting of temporary special commissions
Temporary special commissions report to the Verkhovna Rada. At the end of their term of office, they must draw up and submit to the Verkhovna Rada a written report, which is registered as a corresponding draft resolution. The Verkhovna Rada, in turn, must hear such a report first at its next meeting and accept or reject it.
A report of the temporary special commission summarises its work and main outcomes, i.e., information collected, events held, draft laws developed, recommendations to the authorities, etc. Such a document is the main “measure” of the special commission’s efficiency, thanks to which the parliament and the public can get acquainted with the results of its work and evaluate them.
Although, according to the law, the development and submission of a report by a temporary special commission is a mandatory final stage of its operation, in practice, this is often not fulfilled. Out of forty temporary special commissions that worked in the Verkhovna Rada from its third to its ninth convocation, only thirteen (i.e. a little more than a third) registered a report following their work, and only seven of them adopted at least one report. During three convocations (the third, fourth, and seventh), temporary special commissions did not register any reports with the Verkhovna Rada.
At the same time, the absence of a temporary special commission’s report does not always mean that there were no outcomes of its work. In our research, we found cases when temporary special commissions have not registered a report, but reported the results of their work in the media or in official parliamentary communications. Moreover, the success of some special commissions can be assessed by the existence of adopted legislation, the development of which was the purpose of the relevant commission.
However, the absence of reports from the vast majority of commissions that operated in the Verkhovna Rada of previous convocations is still a negative phenomenon since it complicates the analysis of the efficiency of such bodies. Moreover, some commissions have not registered their reports precisely because of inefficient work and lack of results as such.
The reasons for the inefficiency of many temporary special commissions are quite different. For instance, MPs have noted that such bodies often lack sufficient logistical and human resources, which means that they have to use their own resources (e.g., lawyers or their assistants) to address the issues at hand. Moreover, MPs may not register reports as the Verkhovna Rada has higher priority issues to consider or is unable to collect enough votes to adopt them. Last but not least, the efficiency of special commissions depends on the MPs’ personal willingness to make all necessary efforts to address the tasks assigned to them.
However, it is worth noting that the ninth convocation experienced a certain positive shift: almost all temporary special commissions registered at least one report with the Verkhovna Rada. Instead, reports are missing mainly from those special commissions that have recently started their work and have not yet reached the reporting deadline (the exception is the Temporary Special Commission on Developing and Implementing State Policy on the Restoration of the Territorial Integrity and Sovereignty of Ukraine, established in May 2020, which has not submitted a single report, although its term of office has long expired). Moreover, five reports of temporary special commissions are still pending.
The quality of reports in the ninth convocation has also improved: these documents are quite detailed and mostly follow a similar structure. In addition, some special commissions use additional means to inform about their activities: they have their individual pages on the Verkhovna Rada’s website or even create separate websites, Facebook pages, etc. For example, the Temporary Special Commission on the Protection of Investors’ Rights has registered six reports (two of which were adopted by the Verkhovna Rada), informs about its activities on a separate website and has a Facebook page.
