On 5 November 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Draft Law of Ukraine ‘On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Ensuring Legality and Transparency in the Activities of Local Governments’, Reg. No. 14048 as a whole.

The Draft Law, as amended by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning and insisted upon by the Association of Ukrainian Cities, was supported by 250 Ukrainian MPs.

On 29 September 2025, the Board of the Association of Ukrainian Cities approved the resolution on Draft Law No. 14048 to ensure the continuation of the decentralisation reform.

Draft Law No. 14048 will come into force 12 months after martial law in Ukraine is terminated or cancelled, and it provides for the following:

- the introduction of measures to prevent violations of the law in the acts of village, settlement, and city councils and their executive bodies (quarterly reporting, consultations at the request of local governments);

- institutionalisation of supervision by local state administrations over acts of village, settlement, and city councils and their executive bodies issued by them in the exercise of powers delegated by the state;

- the subject of supervision is only violations of laws;

- limitation of the supervision period to 60 days after the relevant act of the local government body comes into force;

- elimination of duplication of supervision by local state administrations with other forms of state control and supervision;

- introduction of mandatory pre-trial resolution of disputes;

- resolution of unresolved disputes exclusively in court;

- suspension of acts of village, settlement, and city councils and their executive bodies is possible only in line with the general procedure of administrative justice, except in cases where there is a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Association of Ukrainian Cities worked with Ukrainian MPs, factions and groups in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and the European Commission to ensure the continued development of local self-government and to establish proportionate supervision, exclusively over the legality of the exercise of delegated powers.

We are grateful to the authors for registering the important Draft Law No. 14048 and to the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning for supporting its revision, which is necessary for Ukraine!

We are grateful to every village, settlement, and city community – members of the Association of Ukrainian Cities – for joining forces!

We are grateful to the Members of the Ukrainian Parliament who voted for supervision exclusively over delegated powers!

We are grateful to the Members of the Ukrainian Parliament who voted for Draft Law No. 14048!

To read the Ukrainian version of the article, please click here.