On 22 July, parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, which effectively transfer the powers of NABU and SAPO to the Prosecutor General.
Law 12414 On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine Regarding the Specifics of Pre-trial Investigation of Criminal Offences Related to the Disappearance of Persons Under Special Circumstances During Martial Law, with amendments regarding NABU, was supported by 263 MPs. The broadcast was hosted by Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
As reported by LB.ua, this morning the Verkhovna Rada’s law enforcement committee recommended a number of controversial amendments for a second reading:
- The Prosecutor General (or acting Prosecutor General) will have full access to the materials of any criminal proceedings (amendments to Article 36 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
- He can independently change the jurisdiction of NABU cases and transfer them to other authorities (Article 216 of the CPC).
- Only he will have the right to notify top officials of suspicion (new para. 1, Art. 481 of the CPC).
- According to the amended part 5 of Article 284 of the CPC, he can single-handedly close criminal cases against the President, government officials, deputies, heads of NABU, SAPO, SBI, NBU, etc.
- The amended Article 8-1 of the Law On the Prosecutor’s Office obliges SAPO prosecutors to follow the procedural instructions of the Prosecutor General at all levels.
- In the new versions of Part 5 of Articles 36 and 216 of the CPC, the Prosecutor General is given the right to take cases away from NABU, citing “inefficiency” as the reason.
- Amendments to the Transitional Provisions of the Law On the Prosecutor’s Office allow prosecutors to be appointed without competition or verification during martial law.
The bill was supported by 185 members of the Servant of the People party, 3 members of the European Solidarity party, 15 members of the Fatherland party, 18 members of the Platform for Life and Peace party, 1 member of the Voice party, 9 members of the Restoration of Ukraine party, 10 members of the For the Future party, and 17 members of the Trust party.
LB.ua also has the conclusion of the law enforcement committee signed by the author of the law, Maksym Pavlyuk (Servant of the People).
Context
The amendments to the draft law were introduced a day after mass searches of NABU employees and an unscheduled inspection by SAPO for compliance with the rules on handling state secrets. Yesterday, the SBU, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the SBI reported on investigative actions involving NABU employees.
The Bureau itself stated that it had conducted more than 70 searches targeting 15 colleagues simultaneously, some of which related to traffic accidents in 2021 and 2023, already known to the relevant authorities.
Some cases concern the possible cooperation of detectives with Russia.
NABU detectives were also accused of facilitating the departure of businessman Hennadiy Boholyubov abroad. However, NABU described this as a coincidence, stating that the employees had been travelling to the event at the invitation of a foreign party.
The ambassadors of the Group of 7 countries expressed serious concern about these events yesterday. The Ukrainian representative office of Transparency International regards this as an attempt by the authorities to subjugate independent anti-corruption bodies.
Following reports about preparations to subordinate NABU to the Prosecutor General, NABU stated that this would effectively destroy their independence.