NABU requests the right to prosecute MPs bypassing the Prosecutor General
20 November 2025 16:33
EXCLUSIVE
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau plans to amend legislation to allow the head of the SAPO to register criminal proceedings, authorize detention, file motions for detention and covert investigative actions against MPs. This is stated in a document entitled “Action Plan for the Implementation of the NABU Development Strategy,” which was published on the bureau’s website, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Amend Article 482-2 of the CPC to authorize the head of the SAPO to register criminal proceedings, authorize detention, file a motion for detention and use of covert investigative actions against MPs of Ukraine, the document says.
Such changes, according to the Bureau’s experts, are necessary to eliminate “problematic issues that impede the effectiveness of criminal proceedings in NABU cases.” Currently, the NABU “has expressed its legal position on supporting the relevant draft law, and in the absence of such a draft law, it has developed and agreed on draft amendments to the legislation, which has been submitted to the subject of the legislative initiative with an appropriate justification for the expediency of making changes.”
The Parliament is reluctant to comment on the Bureau’s initiative. In particular, several current politicians refused to express their opinion, citing an “awkward moment,” saying that in the context of the “energy scandal and Mindich tapes” their comment could allegedly be misinterpreted.
One of the few who agreed to voice his opinion was MP Serhiy Vlasenko. According to him, the NABU should focus more on investigating cases, and “not on PR and strategies.”
“It was NABU’s own idea (to prosecute MPs by the decision of the head of the SAPO – ed.), that they really need it, right? By the way, they are still hiring screenwriters and directors, you know? I think they just need to do a little more investigating and less PR and self-promotion. And a little less narcissistic. And a little more to produce results,” the politician said.
MP Volodymyr Vatras also commented on the respective initiative of the SAP/NABU. He believes that these bodies already have enough powers to fight corruption.
No other law enforcement agency has such competence, so they have enough rights to exercise their powers. In turn, the Prosecutor General, as the head of the prosecution authorities, is defined by the Constitution of Ukraine, and therefore it is inappropriate and unconstitutional to limit his or her functionality. In addition, I have no doubt that he will not approve the NISD against the MP or refuse to notify him of suspicion if there are grounds for doing so,” Vatras explains, noting that this is confirmed by a number of criminal proceedings that are being investigated or are already in court.
Moreover, as the MP summarized, it is the Prosecutor General who is the guarantor of compliance with the laws in the field of pre-trial investigation, including those concerning senior state officials.
“Who else but him can guarantee the objectivity of the pre-trial investigation, compliance with the law, and ensure impartiality in investigations of MPs?” the MP said.
How MPs are being persecuted today
At present, it is the Prosecutor General (or acting Prosecutor General) who has the right to enter information about an MP’s offense into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
Arrest or other measures of restraint against an MP require the appropriate consent of the Verkhovna Rada.
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