Decentralization boost and information security center

13 May 2021
Decentralization boost and information security center
Home > Monitoring > Decentralization boost and information security center

While Ukraine was celebrating long spring weekends, the President was fighting disinformation and trying to boost decentralization. As usual, he violated the Constitution by assuming the authority of the Cabinet.

Regulations for the Center for Countering Disinformation (decree #187/2021)

Who is affected: government bodies, the National Security and Defense Council, and Ukrainian citizens.

Decree in a nutshell:

  • defines the Center for Countering Disinformation as a working body of the National Security and Defense Council that will cover the following functions:
  • countering current and projected threats to national information security
  • detecting and countering disinformation
  • preventing attempts to manipulate public opinion
  • provisions that the Center can have at most 52 employees
  • sets the following tasks for the Center:
  • to analyze and monitor information events and occurrences, the state of Ukrainian information security, and how Ukraine is presented in the international information space
  • to detect and inspect current and projected threats to national information security, evaluate their probable consequences for state security
  • to provide the National Security and Defense Council with analytical information and proposals on defining approaches to countering disinformation, coordinating the work of government bodies involved, and updating legal and scientific framework of countering information threats
  • to participate in the development of the system of strategic communications, the Information Security Strategy, and the integrated system of evaluating and responding to information threats
  • to cooperate with civil society organization in countering information security threats, analyzing international best practices, and defining priorities for engaging international technical assistance
  • orders the Cabinet to facilitate interactions between the Center and executive bodies, to find the funding for its activities and salaries for its employees.

What is right: the state tries to keep up with the ever-increasing level of information threats to its security and creates a tool to coordinate the work of state bodies in countering disinformation.

What is wrong:

  • by creating the Center, the President and the NSDC de facto assume a part of the authority to develop the state policy on information security (countering disinformation) and thus take it from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
  • since the Center will not be a part of the executive branch but will have the authority to coordinate the work of ministries and departments, it will hinder the development of a unified state policy on information security
  • the NSDC is not a government body and thus cannot shape state policies. The NSDC is only a platform where the President and the Cabinet are supposed to negotiate their positions on national security and defense
  • the work of the Center will be beyond parliamentary control although it is of critical importance for all bodies involved in the security and defense sphere to be accountable to the Verkhovna Rada
  • since the Center will be controlled by the President and beyond the control of the Parliament, it will be possible to use it for oppressing the political opposition instead of countering propaganda
  • by giving orders to the Cabinet, the President violates the Constitution since it does not grant him such authority.

Alternative solution: the Center will perform three basic tasks: 1) develop the state policy on countering disinformation; 2) implement this policy; 3) coordinate the work of government bodies to counter disinformation. It is more reasonable to distribute the necessary powers among several government bodies:

  • the authority to develop the state policy on information security should be an exclusive prerogative of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
  • implementation of the state policy on countering propaganda should be delegated to a special agency — a central executive body — within the ministry
  • synchronized work of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the State Security Service, the National Police, the State Special Communications Service, and other bodies involved in the implementation of information security policy and countering disinformation can be best ensured by a coordinated body similar to coordination bodies in military intelligence.

State regional policy measures to boost the decentralization (decree #180/2021)

Who is affected: the Cabinet, the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, the Ministry of Finance, the State Service for Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre, local state administrations, local governments, and Ukrainian citizens.

Decree in a nutshell: enacts the decision by the National Security and Defense Council on state regional policy to boost the decentralization. The decision gives the following orders:

1) to the Cabinet:

  • to ensure that government bodies use the codifier of administrative and territorial units and territories of territorial communities
  • to ensure that an analytical system for monitoring statistical and administrative indicators of territorial communities is created by 2022
  • to prepare a draft bill transferring a share of income tax to local budgets (to budgets of the localities where respective taxpayers are registered)

2) to the State Service for Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre (and other government bodies):

  • to complete the transfer of lands formerly owned by territorial communities now dissolved to the newly-created communities
  • to arrange the inventorying of lands owned by territorial communities and their evaluation, to register the results in the automated system of the State Land Cadastre
  • to ensure the creation of the State Address Register — the data-set of national infrastructure geospatial data

3) to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, and local state administrations:

  • to prepare and approve the procedure for evaluating the territorial communities’ capacity based on financial capacity indicators
  • to ensure the audit of financial resources of territorial communities and inform the general public about its results

4) to the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development and other government bodies:

  • to ensure the inventorying of water objects, forests, communal and state property situated on the land of territorial communities.

What is wrong:

  • the decree is overtly unconstitutional since the President does not have any authority to influence policies on regional development and natural resources management. Also, he has no authority to give any orders to the Cabinet
  • according to the Constitution, the National Security and Defense Council is the coordinating body on national security and defense. However, the decision enacted by the President does not address any of these two issues
  • the NSDC acts as a decision-making center parallel to the Cabinet and thus ruins the executive hierarchy. As a result, the Cabinet is unable to successfully develop and implement a consistent policy on regional development and decentralization
  • with the help of NSDC’s decisions the President usurps the authority of the executive branch and renders parliamentary control over it impossible.

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