The dissertation generalizes the scientific and theoretical foundations, substantiates the basic provisions, and provides recommendations for improving interactions of civil society organizations and public authorities for developing human rights state policy.
The thesis defines the "human rights state policy" as a targeted activity (positive obligations) or refraining from any actions aimed at violating or illegally restricting the rights (negative obligations) of state institutions to address social problems, which is based on the principle of value (respect) of human rights and touches all spheres of life.
It was substantiated that legislative consolidation of obligatory examination of compliance of draft laws with human rights standards is required, including gender legal examination by the parliament, as well as introduction of assessment of the effectiveness of legislation.The parliament activity regarding the implementation of its control function is analyzed and it is identified that it is necessary to strengthen the parliamentary control over the implementation of international human rights obligations.
The recommendations provided to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights based on the results of expert monitoring were summarized and it was determined that the activities and powers of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, regulated by the 1998 law, should be brought in line with Paris Principles. Emphasis is placed on the need for legislative consolidation, appropriate financing, and resource provision of regional/local representatives of the Commissioner.
It is substantiated, that local self-government bodies are independent entities and due to decentralization are empowered to enable the participation of civil society organizations to identify urgent human rights issues that need to be addressed. Thus, they can develop their own, local/regional human rights action plans together with interested civil society organizations.
It is established that the current state of interaction between civil society organizations and public authorities has both positive aspects and a number ofissues. Among key issues are imperfect legislation on interaction with civil society organizations; low level of consultations, specifically, the choice of consultation channels and dissemination of relevant information is often formal; lack of a unified approach to control; lack of mandatory consideration and implementation of recommendations submitted by the public; lack of reports on the results of consultations or information on public proposals, as well as the results of their consideration; lack of state information and educational policy in the field of promoting the development of civil society.
The paper identifies that to improve the interaction of civil society organizations and public authorities it is necessary to adopt and further implement the law, which will establish unified rules for public consultations by all public authorities, consideration, and acceptance of proposals of civil society organizations and responsibility in case of violations.
It was argued that the system of implementation and control over the implementation of international human rights treaties should be systematic.
It has been identified that the establishment of National Reporting and Follow-up Mechanisms and coordinating bodies in order to develop and monitor the implementation of human rights policy are the global trends. A leading example is the Georgian Human Rights Council.
An institutional model of interaction between civil society organizations and public authorities in the development of state policy in the field of human rights is proposed. The Coordinating Council for Human Rights should be developed.
It is proposed to establish an advisory body under the Prime Minister of Ukraine with engaging civil society organizations Parliament and National Human Rights Institution in order to establish joint actions of stakeholders.
Based on the results of the analysis of approaches to the assessment of the state policy in the field of human rights, it is proposed to develop indicators for assessing the implementation of human rights state policy.
Keywords: interaction of civil society organizations and state authorities, civil society organizations, human rights, fulfilling human rights, state policy, development of human rights state policy, National Human Rights Strategy.
