Home > 2.8 Security > UKRAINE - Joint Opinion on the Draft Law "On Improving the Procedure for Establishing the Impossibility of Holding National and Local Elections, All-Ukranian and Local Referendums in Certain Territories and Polling Stations"
 
 
 
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Paragraph 38
 

However, the draft amendments do not introduce the assessment criteria into the legislation; rather, the NSDC is mandated to unilaterally establish the criteria without guaranteed involvement of other relevant authorities, such as the CEC, or stakeholder consultation. This is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, the NSDC, as a national security policy body, is not well-positioned to exclusively develop criteria for assessing the feasibility, even from a security standpoint, to prepare and conduct elections in accordance with the law. Other relevant bodies and electoral specialists should also be involved in this process. Moreover, placing the authority to develop the criteria and make the final decision on the matter in the hands of a single body – which is also going to apply them – creates an unnecessary risk for conflict of roles.