Bill empowering president to appoint NABU, SBI directors declared unconstitutional - source

17.12.2019 14:25

Ukrinform

The Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional bill No. 1014, which gives Ukraine's president the right to appoint directors of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

A respective decision was made at a meeting of the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on Monday, December 16, a well-informed source in court told Ukrinform.

"Bill No. 1014 was recognized as not complying with Article 157 of the Constitution," the source said.

Thirteen judges of the Constitutional Court voted for such a decision. The judge-rapporteur on this case was Ihor Slidenko.

In September this year, the Verkhovna Rada sent presidential bill No. 1014 "On the Introduction of Amendments to Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine" to the Constitutional Court to obtain an opinion.

The said article of the Constitution refers to the president securing powers to form independent regulatory bodies, appoint and dismiss NABU and SBI directors.

The explanatory note to the bill stated that the document proposes to supplement Article 106 of the Constitution with two new paragraphs - 11-1 and 12-1. Thus, it was planned to give the president the right to appoint and dismiss NABU and SBI directors in the manner prescribed by the laws of Ukraine.