Regulatory and institutional mechanism of human rights impact assessment of international trade agreements in Ukraine

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of the information obtained as a result of cooperation with the state authorities of Ukraine onthe human rights impact assessment of international trade agreements. The author sent requests for acquiring public information to theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture. As a result, itwas found that the human rights impact assessment of international trade agreements, despite the existence of a corresponding obligationto conduct it and the attribution of such competence to certain government agencies is not carried out. Accordingly, there is no me -thodology for such an assessment, which excluded the organizational dimension from the subject of the article.The article reflects current approaches to the humanization of international trade law. The author focused on the establishmentand approval of a new concept of cooperation between members of the international community namely R2A (responsibility to act),which in addition to protecting violated human rights also provides for active action to promote them for sustainable development. Itimplies, inter alia, the inclusion of a human rights clause in the text of all international trade agreements. The author concluded that itis necessary to carry out the human rights impact assessment of such agreements in order to increase the positive and minimize thenegative consequences of their implementation.The article represents the positive experience of states and regional associations that assess the impact on human rights, as wellas identifies potential risks and limitations of this mechanism. It was found that the number of international obligations of Ukraine inthe field of the human rights impact assessment is growing, while the implementation of their provisions at the national level is not produced,which requires improving the existing institutional mechanism and avoiding adaptation of ineffective practices in the nationallegal environment.