Asset declaration / Photo from UNIAN
The new legislation reverses the recent controversial move by the Constititional Court to repeal criminal punishment for the said offense, which drew wide criticism in Ukraine and among foreign partners.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has passed the Law "On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the establishment of responsibility for declaring false information and failure to submit a declaration by a person authorized to perform the functions of the state or local government" (No. 4460-d).
Some 289 MPs out of 322 registered in the session hall voted for the relevant bill, followed by technical and legal editing, an UNIAN correspondent reports.
The bill supplements the Criminal Code of Ukraine with Article 366-2 "Declaring inaccurate information."
The article lays down liability for public servants for deliberately filing inaccurate information if the gap from the actual volume of assets ranges from 500 to 4,000 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons.
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Deliberate filing inaccurate information if the gap from the actual volume of assets exceeds 4,000 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons is punished with a fine from 3,000 to 5,000 tax-free subsistence minimums (from UAH 51,000 to UAH 85,000 (US$1,500-3,000)), public works for a period of 150 to 240 hours, or imprisonment for up to two years and a ban on certain public positions or engaging in certain activity for up to three years.
Also, the Criminal Code is supplemented by Article 366-3 punishing officials for the failure to file asset declarations.
According to its provisions, deliberate failure by a person authorized to perform government functions to file the declaration of income is punishable with a fine from 2,500 to 3,000 tax-free subsistence minimums (from UAH 42,500 to UAH 51,000 (US$1,500-1,800)), public works for a period of 150 to 240 hours, and a ban on holding certain public positions or engaging in certain activity for up to three years.
In particular, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine establishes that the High Anti-Corruption Court has jurisdiction over criminal proceedings on corruption-related criminal offenses laid down in the said two articles.
Pretrial investigation of these criminal offenses shall be carried out by detectives of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The law also introduces amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, as well as Law on Prevention of Corruption
The new legislation comes into force on the day following the date of its publication.
Constitutional Court row: Background
On October 27, the Constitutional Court made a decision on a motion filed by 47 Members of Parliament, having repealed Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code, which provided for criminal liability for inaccurate declaration by government officials of their income.
The Constitutional Court also recognized the provisions of laws on the audit of officials' e-declarations as unconstitutional and stripped the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) of powers to check declarations and identify conflicts of interest.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tabled bill No. 4288 in parliament to terminate the powers of all CCU judges. The document states, in particular, that the decision of the Constitutional Court of October 27 is "null and void" (such that it does not create legal consequences) as such that was adopted by the CCU judges in conditions of a real conflict of interests." Zelensky proposes the termination of the powers of CCU judges from the date when the law becomes effective, suggesting that subjects authorized to appoint new judges should immediately begin the procedure for the competitive selection of the court's new members.
On November 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Venice Commission to assess the constitutional situation caused by the Constitutional Court's October 27 decision and provide an opinion on the state of anti-corruption legislation after its adoption.
The European Union in its assessment report on Ukraine's reform progress, said the recent decisions by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine "have called into question the country's achievements in the fight against corruption."