On the question of the electronic parliament essence: the ukrainian dimension
Authors: Kostetska Tatiana 
Published: August 2023

In view of the expediency and demand for the most effective ways to solve the challenges of globalization information processes, the determination of the foreign policy vector of our country's development in the direction of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the need for high-quality modern tools for solving complex tasks faced by public authorities, Ukraine has determined the strategic development of electronic democracy and state policy of digital transformation of society.

The article focuses attention on the main conceptual idea of e-democracy – the involvement of the public in the political processes of state formation, state administration, and local government through the wide application of information and communication technologies in democratic processes. certain topical problems of the implementation of the electronic parliament in Ukraine are clarified. It is emphasized that the e-parliament is among the strategically determined main components of the domestic process of establishing and developing electronic democracy.

The relevance of the issue is primarily related to the expediency of a comprehensive constitutional and legal analysis of the activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine –the Parliament of Ukraine in the context of the introduction of forms and means of e-democracy, the implementation of digital transformation of state and social life, challenges and threats of today in the conditions of martial law for the development of Ukrainian parliamentarism as a whole.

It is emphasized that the concept of e-parliament has become widespread, and the construction of such an institution has become an important trend in the development of modern world parliaments.

The international legal principles of the studied phenomenon are analyzed from the point of view of its practical value and definition of the concept, essence.

It was concluded that during the entire period of the existence of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as a parliament, the only body of legislative power, the foundations of the development of the "e-parliament" were also laid (introduction and use ofmodern forms of ICT, information content of web resources, information support of various parliamentary activities, etc). After Ukraine's accession to the Declaration of the Open Parliament (2016), the intensity of the relevant processes is increasing. Emphasis is made on the fact that efforts to implement plans for the development of electronic parliamentarism are primarily aimed at improving the quality of the lawmaking process and the effective interaction of all its subjects and participants.

Attention is payed to the fact that domestic constitutional and legal science has not yet formed a generally accepted concept of e-parliament as a legal category, a unified approach to understanding its essence, content.

Various approaches to defining the concept, essence, content of the electronic parliament in the domestic literature are studied. Determining the essence of the definition, scientists consider it mainly from the point of view of technological aspects,the use of ICT in parliamentary activities.

The author's definition of "E-parliament" is provided – it is information and communication, digital technologies for the implementation of parliamentary activities, the electronic infrastructure of the parliament, a condition for ensuring its open, transparent, accountable to voters functioning, expanding the development opportunities and strengthening democratic institutions, citizen participation in political processes. It is emphasized that the electronic parliament cannot be considered as a separate type of traditional democratic parliament, as well as the fact that it cannot be completely identified with the constitutionally defined parliament of Ukraine The conformity of the practical activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with the concept of e-parliament is clarified.

Key words: government reform, e-democracy, digital, form, mean, stools,information and communication technologies, e-parliament, e-parliamentarism, Declaration of the Open Parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine