Buzhansky: The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code proposed by NABU will not pass either the committee or the parliament
4 May 18:29
Maksym Buzhansky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement, believes that the amendments the National Anti-Corruption Bureau is proposing to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) will in no way improve investigations; consequently, he predicts that they will not be approved by parliament. The MP made this statement in a comment to the publication
The MP noted that anti-corruption agencies proposed the amendments to the CPC for discussion “to everyone except parliament.”
“If anti-corruption agencies believe that European ambassadors, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, or someone else will be voting, they can discuss this as much as they like, but parliament has not received the proposals. But from what we’ve seen, there’s nothing to discuss there at all, and with perhaps a few exceptions, the proposals are unacceptable—they will in no way lead to improved criminal investigations and will certainly not be approved by parliament. And I believe the committee feels the same way,” said Maksym Buzhansky.
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The MP clarified that, given this situation, there is no point in involving experts from the Venice Commission—who previously played an active role in drafting the current version of the CPC—in the evaluation of NABU’s proposals.
NABU’s Proposed Amendments to the CPC
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine proposes to radically change a number of provisions of the current Criminal Procedure Code, as reported by the publication “Judicial and Legal Gazette” with reference to a comparative table to the draft law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and other legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the strengthening of the capabilities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to prevent, detect, stop, investigate, and solve corruption and other criminal offenses,” signed by Bureau Director Semen Kryvonos.
NABU’s initiatives, among other things, provide for extending the duration of pre-trial investigations and removing the time limit on investigations prior to the issuance of a notice of suspicion.
In addition, the Bureau plans to restore the right for prosecutors, rather than judges, to extend investigation deadlines and significantly expand its own jurisdiction.
Separately, the document proposes abolishing the mandatory presence of witnesses during investigative actions, granting the SAPO prosecutor the authority to initiate criminal proceedings against members of parliament without the approval of the Prosecutor General, and other measures.
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