On the eve of Independence Day of Ukraine, the correspondent of The Journalist spoke with a lawyer, human rights activist and philanthropist Valery Syrovatsky. They discussed current Ukrainian realities and possibility of the rule of law development in a crisis condition.
Valery Ivanovych, is there in your opinion a legal framework in Ukraine that fully protects the rights of its citizens?
Of course, yes. Ukraine is a constitutional state with legislative and executive branches of government and it would be wrong to say that the law does not work for Ukrainians. Unfortunately, we have an insufficiently developed information system of communication between the state and society, the function of which is precisely to transmit and explain the country’s present laws. We all notice that the legislative processes are quite active, but if you go outside and conduct a survey on the law meaning, the percentage of public awareness will be quite low. Therefore, in order to strengthen the legal field, it is necessary to establish this communication aspect of its work.
One can often hear such a postulate: “the Rule of Law is not working in Ukraine”; is it true?
The rule of law is governing a particular sphere of life. Violation of the law always lies outside the plane of legal relations and gives rise to a separate field, the participants of which achieve their interests – someone is trying to get away from responsibility, and someone is getting profit. This is no longer relevant to the law itself; rather, it is a type of social interaction between people. The easiest way to say – the law is bad, so I break it. It would be more correct to say that a person always violates the law in order to receive benefits, not necessarily financial ones – it can be professional, communication, etc. The one who helps a person to avoid the consequences of breaking the law also doing this in order to obtain benefits. In this situation, the questions are no longer about the law as such, but about the awareness and responsibility of the participants in the process, who violate it.
What is need to be done in order to change the situation?
The systematic informational work with society is needed: from general education institutions to the specialized legal courses for specialists from various fields. Such work is needed in order to balance the relationship between citizens and the state. Indeed, now there are two very widespread stereotypes – either “the state owes me”, or “I owe nothing to the state.” Both theses, in my opinion, are false, since the state has rights and obligations to its citizens, and vice versa. In fact, only a conscious citizenship can actually change the legal situation in the country. When a person, instead of negotiating and giving bribes, will defend his rights in the legal plane and everyone will be ready to bear responsibility for their decisions. When a person will be ready not to violate the rules adopted in the state, neither at the household, nor at the global level. When a person will believe that his actions are the basic for any process in his state. Moreover, not a single person, but we all, the citizens of Ukraine. You can complain as much as you like about the imperfection of the law and at the same time violate it many times. You can strive to become a source of positive change in your country. This is everyone’s choice.
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