The Verkhovna Rada has failed to review a draft law on re-criminalizing illegal enrichment by state officials.
Only 205 lawmakers voted in favor of including the bill on the parliament’s agenda on June 6, a motion that would require a minimum of 226 votes. Out of 332 lawmakers registered in the parliamentary hall, as many as 123 ignored the vote.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy submitted the draft law to the Verkhovna Rada on June 3. The bill was intended to replace a previous article of Ukraine’s Criminal Code that was struck down by the Constitutional Court in a controversial decision on Feb. 27.
According to the Constitutional Court, the article contradicted the presumption of innocence and the constitutional principle that individuals cannot be forced to testify against themselves or close relatives.
The court’s decision triggered a public uproar and drew heavy criticism from the International Monetary Fund and Ukraine’s Western partners.
According to Ukraine’s Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, at least 65 criminal proceedings were automatically closed due to the court’s ruling.
During the presidential campaign, Zelenskiy pledged to reintroduce the law on illegal enrichment. His bill called for jailing officials guilty of illegal enrichment and confiscating their ill-gotten assets.
According to the presidential administration, the bill was developed in coordination with Ukrainian and foreign experts. It would not only re-criminalize illegal enrichment, but would also create a mechanism for confiscating illegal property in a civil court case without a criminal conviction — an approach based upon civil forfeiture laws common in the West, the presidential press service said.
“Anti-graft agencies now cannot investigate proceedings on illicit enrichment committed prior to (the Constitutional Court) ruling this Criminal Code article unconstitutional,” the administration said.
However, should the authorities discover that an official possesses illicit assets of over Hr 900,000 ($33,400), the individual could be targeted in a civil case.
“Therefore, previously-collected evidence regarding illicit enrichment can be used by anti-graft agencies in requests to confiscate unlawfully gained assets for the benefit of the state,” the presidential administration stated.
Under Zelenskiy’s bill, such cases would be initiated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in coordination with the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
All such cases would be heard by the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, which, according to the presidential administration, would be “an additional guarantee of the unbiased pursuit of such cases.”
