President Petro Poroshenko submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on amendments to the Constitution regarding the immunity of deputies.
The draft law No. 7203 was registered in the parliament on Tuesday.
Article 80 of Ukrainian Constitution, guarantees immunity to parliamentarians: they do not bear legal responsibility for the results of voting or statements in the parliament and its bodies (except for responsibility for insult or libel), and cannot be drawn to criminal responsibility, detained or arrested without the consent of the parliament.
Poroshenko proposes to state this article in this edition: "People's deputies of Ukraine do not bear legal responsibility for the results of voting or statements in the parliament and its bodies, with the exception of responsibility for insult or libel", ie dropping the final provision.
The president suggests that the relevant law, if adopted, should come into force on 1 January, 2020.
One of the requirements of the Tuesday rally at the parliament is also the restriction of parliamentary immunity.
The parliament already has a presidential bill (No. 1776) on the abolition of deputy immunity, it also provides for limitations to the immunity of judges. This bill can no longer be submitted for consideration, however, since a legal conflict arose because the issue of the inviolability of judges was resolved in the course of judicial reform.