Constitutional Court ruling on Criminal Code article on illegal enrichment final, cannot be appealed

The ruling has been posted on the court's website.

"Article 368 (2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is recognized as not complying with the Constitution of Ukraine (unconstitutional). Article 368 (2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which has been declared unconstitutional, loses its force from the day the ruling is issued by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine," reads the operative part of the decision.

The judge-rapporteur in this case was Viktor Kolisnyk. Judge Serhiy Holovaty expressed a separate opinion.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court is binding, final and the one that cannot be appealed.

It emerged on February 26 that the Constitutional Court had ruled unconstitutional Article 368-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which envisaged the criminal liability of officials for illegal enrichment.

On December 12, 2017, 59 people's deputies sent a motion to the Constitutional Court with the demand to verify the compliance of Article 368-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Criminal liability for illegal enrichment was introduced on November 26, 2015. This was one of the requirements of the EU to implement the Visa Liberalization Action Plan.

This article, among other things, provides for imprisonment for up to two years with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and with the confiscation of property if an official acquired a significant amount of assets the legality of which was not confirmed by evidence and if an official transferred such assets to another person.

The same acts committed by an official who holds a responsible position are punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to five years, with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years and with the confiscation of property.

The acts provided for in Part 1 of this article, which were committed by an official who occupies a particularly responsible position, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and with the confiscation of property.

Criminal cases concerning illegal enrichment were earlier opened against First Deputy Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine Pavlo Demchyna, former military prosecutor for the ATO forces Kostiantyn Kulyk, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, and other high-ranking officials.

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