The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has ruled that the appointment of Director of the National Anti-corruption Bureau Artem Sytnyk was unconstitutional, a source in the Court has told UNIAN.
"Indeed, the Constitutional Court has recognized as unconstitutional the decree on appointing Artem Sytnyk a NABU Director. The details are yet to be clarified," the source said.
NABU director's appointment: essence of claim
On July 9, 2020, the Constitutional Court launched consideration of the claim filed by a group of 51 people's deputies who asked the court to look into the constitutionality of the presidential decree on appointing Artem Sytnyk NABU Director.
According to the law on NABU (Part 9 Article 7), a president appoints a Bureau director from among two to three candidates selected by the competition committee.
In 2015, of 176 candidates running for the top post at NABU, Arem Sytnyk and Mykola Siriy reached the final stage of selection. The then-President Petro Poroshenko has appointed Artem Sytnyk.
Read alsoUkraine State Judicial Administration, Kyiv District Administrative Court's heads served with charge papers – NABUThe group of deputies, which includes Vladimir Putin's political operative in Ukraine Viktor Medvedchuk, explained in their filing with the Constitutional Court that the post of NABU director is beyond the explicit list of positions laid down in the Constitution to which a president is entitled to appoint officials.
They believe that the president thus breached the ban on usurping state power, enshrined in Part 4 Article 5 of the Constitution.
What is NABU
The agency was established in 2014 after its predecessor, the National Anti-Corruption Committee was considered a failure. The Bureau was created on the request of the International Monetary Fund, according to Wikipedia.
The agency's government funding is mandated under American and European Union aid programs. It has an evidence-sharing agreement with the FBI.
