Monitoring Report of the Activity of the Verkhovna Rada 14th Session 9th Convocation

Summary

Main indicators of the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the 14th session of the IX convocation:

389 draft laws were registered, of which: 

1. 7 (1.8%) European integration draft laws;
2. 17 (4.4%) draft laws on the consent to or denunciation of international treaties;
3. 1 (0.3%) urgent draft law.

63 draft laws were adopted, of which:

1. 2 (3.2%) European integration draft laws;
2. 10 (16%) laws on ratification of international treaties;
3. 5 (8%) laws were identified by the President as urgent.

30 draft laws were adopted at the first reading (47.6%), while 33 draft laws were adopted at the second reading (52.4%).

Monitoring of the activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the 14th session of the IX convocation identified five key trends: 

A Decline in Legislative Activity

Legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada during the 14th session significantly declined both in terms of the number of registered draft laws and the number of adopted laws. A total of 389 draft laws were registered — one of the lowest figures for the entire IX convocation — while only 63 laws were adopted, which is an absolute minimum for this convocation. This dynamic continues the downward trend that emerged after the 9th session and indicates not only a reduction in the legislative workload but also a general slowdown of the parliamentary legislative process. In addition, this session recorded an anti-record in terms of plenary time spent on the consideration of laws — 48 hours. This is the lowest figure in the past three years.

A Slowdown in the Work of the Parliament

The decrease in the number of adopted laws occurs against the background of record-long timeframes for their passage, which further reinforces the decline in the effectiveness of legislative activity. The average time from registration to adoption of draft laws at the second reading reached 382 days — the highest figure for the period from the 4th to the 14th session. In other words, on average, the Verkhovna Rada requires more than one year to adopt a draft law at the second reading. The timeframes between the adoption of draft laws at the first reading and their adoption at the second reading have also increased. In practice, this demonstrates that draft laws are processed very slowly or that there are difficulties in securing the necessary votes for their adoption.

The reasons for such a decline in activity may include both general fatigue within the Parliament and the consequences of scandals related to the activities of anti-corruption bodies. It is also important to consider the exceptionally challenging circumstances of autumn and winter 2025–2026. A large number of air raid alerts and attacks on critical infrastructure facilities may have affected the functioning of state institutions, including the Parliament. This decline is particularly notable considering the change of Government at the end of the previous session: the 14th session was expected to be more active, driven by the legislative initiatives of the new Cabinet of Ministers during its ‘first 100 days’, yet this did not materialise.

Particular attention should be paid to the European integration track. During the 14th session, only two European integration laws were adopted. This is the lowest share and number of adopted European integration laws since the 7th session (the first session in which draft laws were labelled as European integration). Such a pace poses risks to Ukraine’s European integration prospects.

Another negative record is the decrease in the number of Members of Parliament, as only 393 MPs remained at the beginning of the 15th session. This, of course, also had an impact on legislative activity and the Parliament’s capacity to adopt laws.

A Decrease in the Number of Procedural Violations

During the 14th session, a decrease in the number of violations of procedural rules was recorded both at the stage of consideration of draft laws at the first and second readings. Compared to the 13th session, the share of procedural violations in the process of draft laws’ passage decreased by 30%, indicating a more restrained and formalised approach to the consideration of legislative initiatives. This makes it possible to observe a certain pattern in the work of the Verkhovna Rada: the share of violations decreased precisely when overall legislative activity declined. Conversely, the higher the number of laws, the greater the number of violations of the Rules of Procedure recorded. At the same time, only a slight decrease in violations of the constitutional procedure for the signing of laws by the President was observed. Despite a modest positive dynamic of this indicator, the scale of violations remains significant, which does not allow for unequivocal conclusions about a sustainable improvement in compliance with constitutional requirements and rather points to a temporary fluctuation than to a systemic change in practice.

A Reduction in Legislative Spam

It is also worth noting signs of a decrease in legislative spam. The reduction in the overall number of registered draft laws is accompanied by a decline in the share of initiatives with a single signatory and an increase in the share of draft laws submitted by groups of 8–22 signatories. Such a structure of draft law submission may indicate a somewhat higher level of prior coordination among Members of Parliament. At the same time, the problem of legislative spam has not been fully eliminated: certain parliamentary groups, particularly the Restoration of Ukraine group, continue to demonstrate abnormally high levels of draft law activity per MP, which maintains structural risks for the quality of legislation.

A Weakening of the Oversight Function

The decrease in the activity of Members of Parliament is also reflected in data on the exercise of the oversight function. During the 14th session, MPs submitted only 218 parliamentary questions, which is almost half as many as during the 13th session. They also held fewer ‘Government Question Hour’ sessions and asked fewer questions (interventions) compared to previous sessions after their resumption (apart from the 10th session).

Monitoring Route*

This monitoring report of the activity of the 14th session of the 9th Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine consists of a summary, six units and annexes. *To find out more about each unit, follow the links below:

1. legislative activity: the total number of registered draft laws and laws, their breakdown by initiators and groups of signatories;
2. passage of draft laws: breakdown of laws by readings of adoption, deadlines for submitting opinions of the main committees, timeframe from registration to adoption of the law, including by readings and initiators;
3. plenary time: total time spent on consideration of draft laws in the VRU, distribution of time for consideration of draft laws according to the initiator and the time required for consideration of the draft law in the session hall;
4. committees: total number and breakdown by initiators of opinions on dismissal, number of committee meetings and their workload in accordance with the number of registered draft laws and submitted opinions on draft laws, including the workload per committee member;
5. violations of the Rules of Procedure: the number of violations of the Rules of Procedure in relation to draft laws and proposals of the President of Ukraine;
6. the oversight function of the Verkhovna Rada: indicators of the ‘Government Question Hour’, the number of temporary commissions and the number of MPs’ inquiries.

Annexes contain lists of draft laws included in the ranking, which is based on various quantitative indicators (e.g., number of days from registration to adoption).