Online platform for public discussion of regulatory legal acts

The primary goal of creating the Public Discussion Portal is to enhance the effectiveness of public discussions on draft regulatory legal acts by facilitating electronic communication through the Portal for:

• Ensuring accessibility of draft regulatory legal acts for review and commentary by various stakeholders.
• Improving feedback between lawmakers and individuals who provide comments and recommendations on draft regulatory legal acts.
• Enabling more informed decision-making by lawmakers, taking public opinion into account."

Website: koomtalkuu.gov.kg
Client: Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic
Donor: USAID Joint Management Program (EWMI)
The Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic – II
Period: September 2019 - Present
Project Stage: Successfully operational

Law is not law, if it violates the principles of eternal justice. The people's voice is the loudest and should never be ignored.

- William Lloyd Garrison

Understanding the vital role of civil society in the legislative process, we were determined to win the tender for developing an online platform for public discussion of draft regulations. And we succeeded. We studied the experiences of other Central Asian countries and created an Online  Public Discussion Portal . Our goal was to develop a socially beneficial product that promotes openness and transparency in the legislative process of Kyrgyzstan.

The Public Consultation Portal is designed to enhance civic engagement and foster transparency in governance. Its core features include:

• Public Consultation on Draft Laws: Citizens can review and comment on draft laws and legislative proposals, actively contributing to the decision-making process.
• User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive and accessible design ensures easy navigation, making participation simple for all users.
• Feedback and Suggestions: Registered users have the opportunity to submit their suggestions and opinions on various public topics, enhancing community involvement.
• Discussion Moderation: Moderators facilitate healthy and constructive discussions while maintaining a respectful environment for all participants.
• Voting and Polls: Citizens can vote on topics of public interest, providing valuable insights into public sentiment.
• Notification System: Users receive timely updates on new discussions, responses, and changes to proposals, keeping them informed.
• Multilingual Support: The portal is available in multiple languages, catering to the diverse population of Kyrgyzstan.
• Publication of Draft Laws: Government bodies can upload and publish draft normative legal acts, ensuring accessibility for public review.
• Comprehensive Search Functions: Users can search, view, download, and print drafts of normative legal acts directly from the portal.
• Commenting Features: Users can leave comments on draft laws—both at the general level and on specific sections—fostering detailed public discourse.
• Response Management: Government representatives can view incoming comments and publish responses, enhancing dialogue with citizens.
• Comment Voting: Users can vote on comments, helping prioritize the most relevant feedback.
• Complaint Mechanism: The portal includes functionality for users to submit complaints about other comments and receive notifications regarding such complaints.
• Subscription to Updates: Users can subscribe to receive updates on specific draft laws, ensuring they remain engaged with the legislative process.
• Discussion Reports: The portal generates reports summarizing the outcomes of discussions on individual draft laws.
• Personal Account Management: Users have access to a personal account for managing their information, subscriptions, and comment history.
• Civic Initiative Proposals: Citizens can submit legislative initiatives, vote “for” or “against” proposals, and view reports on voting outcomes. Accepted decisions are published for implementation.
• Access for Government Representatives: All executive authorities can access the portal, allowing them to post draft normative legal acts, gather feedback, and participate in discussions.
• Legislation Execution Module: The portal includes a module for tracking the execution of laws requiring the development and adoption of new normative acts. It allows for the assignment of responsible government bodies and monitors deadlines for preparing normative acts, generating statistical reports, and visualizations of legislative execution.
• This comprehensive platform is a vital tool for promoting open government, ensuring that the voices of Kyrgyzstan's citizens are heard and considered in shaping the country’s future.

• Accessibility of Draft Regulations: The platform now ensures that all draft regulations are published for public discussion. Previously, access to these drafts was limited, making it difficult for citizens to participate in the legislative process.
• User Engagement: The number of active users on the portal is steadily increasing, reflecting growing public involvement in the discussion of draft regulations.
• Transparency: Statistics indicate that only 10% of user comments are taken into account by the developers of the draft regulations - the executive authorities of Kyrgyzstan. Nearly half of the comments receive no response, and about 15% of replies are provided after the legally specified deadlines. These figures highlight areas for improvement, and we hope that over time, the authorities will work to enhance these metrics.
• Achievements of the Law Implementation Module:

For the first time in Kyrgyzstan's history, all information on the implementation of laws has been gathered in one place. This platform will continue to facilitate the monitoring of the regulatory drafting process in compliance with legislative requirements.

This portal represents a significant step towards greater transparency and citizen participation in the legislative process.

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