The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has issued its ruling on a motion submitted by 47 Members of Parliament, having rescinded Article 366-1 of the country's Criminal Code, which provides for criminal liability for inaccurate declaration of assets.
The UNIAN correspondent has learnt about this from a source in the Constitutional Court.
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The Constitutional Court's Grand Chamber held a plenary session on October 27 partly behind closed doors to continue considering the motion from 47 lawmakers of Ukraine who wanted the court to examine the compliance (constitutionality) of certain provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on the Prosecutor's Office, the Law on the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Law on the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Law on the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), the Criminal Code, and the Civil Procedure Code with the Constitution of Ukraine, the court said on its website.
"A decision has been made on this case, the full text of which will be published on the Constitutional Court's official website in accordance with the requirements of the Law on the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The decision comes into force from the moment of its adoption," it said.
Serhiy Leshchenko, journalist and member of railway giant JSC Ukrzaliznytsia's Supervisory Board commented on the court's decision on Telegram, saying that it undermined the anticorruption reform. The motion was filed by the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life Party and the Za Majbutne ("For the Future") Party.
"At a session behind closed doors on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court voted to abolish Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code (inaccurate declaration), illegal enrichment, electronic declaration, the powers of the NACP [National Agency on Corruption Prevention]. The draft decision was handed out in the morning and voted on. This did not happen even during [Viktor] Yanukovych's presidency. Only four judges voted against: [Vasyl] Lemak, [Oleh] Pervomaisky, [Viktor] Kolisnyk, and [Serhiy] Holovaty," Leshchenko said.
Meanwhile, Verkhovna Rada envoy to the Constitutional Court Olha Sovgiria said that the decision had been made with flagrant procedural violations and is questionable in its content.
"Unfortunately, Ukraine is facing the risk of being drawn into a huge international scandal over today's decision by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in relation to anti-corruption legislation," she said on Facebook on October 27.
Preceding developments
- On October 8, the Constitutional Court's Grand Chamber began considering through the verbal procedure a motion filed by 47 lawmakers on the compliance (constitutionality) of certain provisions of laws of Ukraine with the Constitution of Ukraine.
- It concerned the Law of Ukraine on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on the Prosecutor's Office, the Law on the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Law on the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Law on the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), the Criminal Code, and the Civil Procedure Code.
- Most of the lawmakers who signed the motion are members of the Opposition Platform - For Life Party.
- On October 19, the Constitutional Court switched to written proceedings over the COVID-19 epidemiological situation.
