The Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning has endorsed the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Electoral Code of Ukraine and Other Legislative Acts with Regard to the Procedure for Appealing Against the Recall of Local Councillors and the Process of Replacing Them”, prepared for its second reading (Reg. No. 13618).

The revised version of the draft law is intended to regulate the procedures for challenging in court decisions to recall, through a citizens’ initiative, village, settlement, and city mayors and local councillors, as well as the replacement of councillors whose terms of office have been terminated prematurely.

In particular, the draft law proposes:

• to clarify its title;
• to extend the period for collecting signatures in support of a proposal to recall village, settlement, and city mayors and local councillors through a public initiative;
• to establish a special procedure for the consideration by the courts of cases concerning appeals against decisions by a political party, a local council or a territorial electoral commission to recall officials and councillors following a public initiative;
• to establish the procedure for judicial challenges to decisions by commissions on the replacement of councillors elected from the electoral lists of local branches of political parties, in the event of the premature termination of their terms of office;
• to prevent the replacement of councillors, the scheduling of by-elections for councillors and the holding of extraordinary elections for village, settlement, and city mayors until a final decision has been reached in court cases challenging their recall;
• to grant the Central Electoral Commission the power to replace local councillors in the event of inaction on the part of the territorial electoral commission.

The document also proposes adding to the list of grounds for the early termination of a local councillor’s term of office. These include:

• the cancellation by a court of a decision by the territorial electoral commission to recognise a person as elected and to register them as a local councillor;
• a court decision prohibiting the activities of the political party from whose local branch the councillor was elected coming into force.

There is also a separate provision prohibiting the replacement of councillors elected from local organisations of political parties whose activities in Ukraine have been banned by a court.

Under the proposed amendments, the powers of a local councillor recalled by a citizens’ initiative shall be terminated early from the date on which a court decision confirming the legality of such recall comes into force, or upon expiry of the time limit set for a judicial appeal.

It is proposed that the councillor’s powers be suspended whilst the case is considered in court. If the court rules in favour of the councillor, their powers are to be reinstated.