Improvement of Legislative Acts of Ukraine in Statistics Field

Abstract

Many legal acts have been subject to amendment in part of redistribution of powers in connection with the administrative reform, the Decree No 1085 “On Optimization of Central Executive Power Bodies” (enforced on 9 December, 2010), and the Law of Ukraine No 5463-VI “On Amendment of Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Activities of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Other Central Executive Power Bodies, Which Activities are Directed and Coordinated by Respective Ministers” (enforced on 16 October, 2012). As a result of the amendment, official statistics bodies forfeited the right to approve statistical methodologies, statistical reporting documents, standard forms for primary reporting documents required for statistical observations, including the ones on administrative offences, by issuing legal acts (in form of official resolutions). This comes contrary to the principle of professional autonomy of the official statistics, fixed in EU’s Acquis Communautaire in statistics field. According to Article 355, Chapter 5 (“Statistics”), Section V (“Economic and Sectoral Cooperation”) of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and EU, the national statistics system has to be built on fundamental principles of UN on official statistics with consideration to EU’s Acquis Communautaire in statistics field, the European Statistics Code of Practice in particular, in order to harmonize with European norms and standards.

To comply with the international legal obligations in statistics, stemming from Items 355 359, Chapter 5, Section V of the Association Agreement , Ukraine needs to establish the professionally autonomous official statistics, supposed to produce the necessary statistical information, including the one on administrative offences. This calls for the amendments to the Ukrainian legislation, which would legally fix the norm assigning the special status to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in order to implement the statutory provision on professional aut onomy of the official st atistics bodies in Ukraine, and specify the powers of the State St atistics Service of Ukraine to approve methodologies and statistical reporting documents required for official statistics observations, including the ones on administrative offences.

The need for the abovementioned amendments in legislative acts of Ukraine is caused by the international legal obligations of Ukraine, stemming from the Association Agreement between Ukraine and EU, to harmonize them with fundamental principles of UN on official statistics with consideration to EU’s Acquis Communautaire in statistics field, the European Statistics Code of Practice notably.