The NABU and SAP want to rewrite the Criminal Procedure Code: they are initiating indefinite prosecution, closing court registers, and opening banking secrecy
12 March 09:03
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko proposing changes to legislation in four areas, according to "Komersant Ukrainian", citingthe Judicial and Legal Newspaper.
Namely:
- Removing procedural obstacles to the effective operation of the National Bureau and the SAP;
- Enhancing the institutional capacity of the National Bureau and the SAP;
- Creation of an independent expert institution to conduct expert examinations in criminal proceedings concerning criminal offenses falling under the jurisdiction of the National Bureau;
- Prevention of information leaks, including through the introduction of a separate procedure for access to state secrets for a specific category of employees of the National Bureau.
In particular, the above-mentioned structures propose:
- Establishment of an independent expert institution to conduct expert examinations in criminal proceedings concerning criminal offenses falling within the jurisdiction of the National Bureau.
State expert institutions are overloaded and cannot keep up with the demand for expert examinations. In addition, the NABU does not like the fact that expert institutions are subordinate to government authorities.
- Repeal of the “Lozvyi amendments”
The current version of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the calculation, extension, and termination of pre-trial investigation periods allegedly hinders anti-corruption agencies from performing their criminal proceedings tasks. Therefore, they propose introducing a mechanism for extending the pre-trial investigation period exclusively by the prosecutor, rather than the investigating judge. In their opinion, judicial control over the extension of pre-trial investigation periods is inappropriate.
- Expansion of prosecutors’ powers.
- The statute of limitations for criminal liability for intentional criminal offenses should be suspended from the indictment.
- Restrict access to court decisions (investigating judge’s rulings) in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
- Give the NABU the ability to monitor bank accounts.
- Introduction of a procedure to ensure the effective performance of the National Bureau’s tasks when granting access to state secrets to a specific category of employees.
- Increase the salaries of their employees.
Simply put, the leadership of NABU and SAPO:
- do not want to ask the court for permission to extend the investigation period. They are asking for this right to be transferred to the SAPO prosecutor, in particular;
- do not want proceedings to be closed due to the expiration of the investigation period and therefore propose to repeal the relevant provision of the CPC;
- propose that criminal proceedings against members of parliament be registered without the participation of the Prosecutor General;
- want there to be no statute of limitations for criminal prosecution;
- they want the court register not to publish court rulings and decisions on their proceedings;
- hint at low salaries.
“All these proposals are justified by mythical risks to their work, which will allegedly arise if the CPC, which is apparently ‘to blame’ for violating reasonable investigation deadlines and for the fact that people under suspicion are being held in pretrial detention centers, is not urgently rewritten,” the publication notes.
