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A law has taken effect, which define the substance and scope of powers of cultural heritage protection authorities (which involves amending the Civil Code of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine On the Protection of Cultural Heritage, On Local Self-Government in Ukraine, and other legislative acts), and which:
a) minimizes the discretionary powers of the cultural heritage protection authorities; in particular, the right of the cultural heritage protection authorities to act in a certain way has been substituted with the obligation to take measures in the event of a violation of landmark conservation laws or a threat to a cultural heritage site, measures towards conservation of landmarks, elimination of risks of their destruction, and holding violators accountable for violations of landmark conservation laws; this includes the obligation to not only act in a certain way by making decisions prescribed by law (issuing improvement notices, directives, or resolutions, filing a lawsuit, etc.) but also to oversee compliance with the decisions made / measures implemented (30 percent);
b) stipulates that it is impossible to receive cultural heritage protection services by tacit consent, and instead provides for effective procedures for contesting any omissions to act on the part of the relevant authorities in matters of providing administrative services and issuing permits relating to cultural heritage protection (10 percent);
c) provides for liability of officials of the cultural heritage protection authorities for failure to act and failure to perform duties relating to cultural heritage conservation (failure to issue directives or improvement notices, failure to act independently by taking measures towards preservation of landmarks, failure to hold violators accountable for failing to conclude a conservation agreement, failure to impose financial sanctions, etc.) in the form of compensation of harm inflicted upon a cultural heritage landmark; disciplinary liability (a reprimand and dismissal for failure to perform official duties), prohibition from occupying positions with government agencies or local self-government bodies for a specific term; the list of violations entailing dismissal has been established (30 percent);
d) provides for the mandatory publication of information about all measures taken, decisions made, permits issued, approvals and directives issued with respect to a cultural heritage landmark by cultural heritage protection authorities on the official website of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (stating the date and agency) and in the electronic register of cultural heritage landmarks (grouped by landmark) (15 percent);
e) provides for a clear procedure of the transfer of a landmark and involuntary buyout of a landmark, aligns the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine On the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and stipulates that a cultural heritage landmark that has been bought out shall pass into public ownership (landmark of national significance) or into the ownership of the territorial community (landmark of local significance) (10 percent);
f) adds clarity to the provisions under which the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy exercises control over performance of duties by local cultural heritage protection authorities, particularly the obligation to annually publicize the reports of these authorities and the measures taken based on the findings of such reports (as a response of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy to such reports), as well as provides for the publication of such reports on the official website of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (5 percent).
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