Rada passes law reinstating anti-corruption agency's powers

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, 300 MPs voted for the document at a parliament meeting on Tuesday, December 15.

The law provides for the restoration of the institutional mechanism for preventing corruption, taking into account Constitutional Court of Ukraine decision No. 13-r/2020 of October 27, 2020, which declared unconstitutional certain parts of the law of Ukraine "On Corruption Prevention" and as a result, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) lost much of its powers.

"It is proposed to reinstate the powers of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, including with respect to judges and the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, with the establishment of certain peculiarities of the national agency's powers to ensure strict observance of guarantees of their independence. This approach will take into account Constitutional Court of Ukraine decision No. 13-r/2020 and will help preserve the effectiveness and proportionality of the institutional mechanism for preventing corruption," the explanatory note to the bill reads.

The law provides for open round-the-clock access to the single state register of asset declarations of persons authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government; the introduction of the legal regulation of peculiarities of settling conflict of interest in the activity of separate categories of persons, the order of control over and full verification of asset declarations, and monitoring a way of life of those who submit declarations. The document also envisages the procedure for implementing some additional financial control measures and provides legal regulation on liability for corruption and corruption-related offenses.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine on October 27 declared unconstitutional Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code providing for penalties for false declaration of assets. The Constitutional Court also declared unconstitutional the NACP's powers to verify the asset declarations of officials, monitor the lifestyle of those who submit declarations, establish the timeliness of submission of declarations, and provisions on open access to declarations in the single state register.

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