The Rada has a bill to restore the independence of NABU and SAPO
24 July 12:38
A draft law restoring the institutional independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is already being registered. This was reported by Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to him, 48 MPs have already signed the bill, although one initiator is enough for registration.
“The law on restoring the independence of NABU and SAPO has been signed by 48 MPs from different factions. We are registering it. Tomorrow we can vote. Turbo mode and turbo mode. Your move, Mr. President,”
– yurchyshyn wrote.
What is known about the new bill
It is known that the initiator of the document is MP Inna Sovsun. The draft law is titled “On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Prosecutor’s Office’ to Restore Institutional Independence of Bodies Conducting Pre-trial Investigation and Procedural Guidance in Cases of Corruption Offenses.”
“The only quick way to roll back the situation is to adopt a new draft law that will cancel all the shameful changes to No. 12414. My team prepared it overnight. This morning we have already sent it to other MPs for signature,”
– inna Sovsun wrote.
This document is not yet available on the parliament’s website.
Earlier, as wrote, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to submit a new bill to the parliament that would eliminate the shortcomings of the resonant law on the actual subordination of the NABU and the SAPO to the Prosecutor General. The head of state mentioned a timeframe of several weeks for such a step, as the document needs to be discussed and verified in detail. Most likely, Inna Sovsun’s draft law does not meet the vision of the Presidential Office.
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The new anti-corruption law and its critics
Full title of the law: On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on Peculiarities of Pre-trial Investigation of Criminal Offenses Related to the Disappearance of Persons Under Special Circumstances During Martial Law.
The draft law was initiated by MPs Maksym Pavliuk, Viacheslav Medianyk, Oleksandr Bakumov, and Serhiy Minko.
The document was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on January 16, 2025. on April 29, the bill was adopted as a basis. On Tuesday, July 22, the law was adopted as a whole (263 MPs pressed the green button), and the President of Ukraine signed it the same day.
Officially, the document concerns changes to the CPC regarding the investigation of disappearances under special circumstances during martial law. However, it was amended to effectively subordinate the NABU and the SAPO to the Prosecutor General.
In particular, the law gives the Prosecutor General the following powers
- access to all NABU cases and delegate this access to other prosecutors;
- provide written instructions to NABU detectives and change the jurisdiction of cases;
- to independently resolve disputes over jurisdiction and sign suspicions to top officials;
- exclusively decide who is part of the group of prosecutors, depriving the head of the SAPO of this right;
- to close investigations at the request of the defense.
Other novelties
New transitional provisions of the law on prosecution stipulate that during martial law, prosecutors from lower levels may be appointed to the positions of prosecutors in the Prosecutor General’s Office and regional prosecutor’s offices without a mandatory competition. Previously, Article 38 of the law required a competition for transfer to a higher-level prosecutor’s office.
In addition, persons who had not worked as prosecutors at all at the time the new law came into force may now be appointed to these positions. The main condition is that they must meet the standard requirements for candidates: have a university degree, the necessary work experience, speak the state language, etc., as set out in Article 27 of the law on the prosecutor’s office.
The appointment procedure is as simple as possible – just submit an application. Persons without prosecutorial experience must provide documents in accordance with Article 30 of the law and undergo a special check in accordance with anti-corruption legislation.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko praised the new opportunities.
“I am grateful to the MPs that at least now, during the war, it will be possible to recruit people – after graduation, other law enforcement officers, former law enforcement officers. This will strengthen the work of the prosecutor’s office. It will be possible to clean out those corrupt officials who are in the ranks of the prosecutor’s office and at the same time recruit people with new strength to fulfill our tasks,”
– he said.
At the same time, the law amended the Criminal Procedure Code. In particular, the list of officials subject to a special procedure for criminal proceedings has been expanded. The following officials have been added to the list:
- heads of presidential auxiliary bodies and their deputies
- the Prime Minister
- members of the government
- deputy ministers;
- civil servants of category “A”;
- the leadership of the State Bureau of Investigation and the BES.
The Prosecutor General (acting Prosecutor General) serves a written notice of suspicion on these categories of persons.
Searches in the NABU and the SAPO
On the eve of the adoption of the law, massive searches took place in the NABU and the SAPO. The SBU claimed to have exposed a mole who was spying for the FSB. The bureau called it a manipulation, noting that it had informed the SBU of the suspicion back in 2023.
Two NABU employees were also detained, including Ruslan Magamedrasulov, head of the Interregional Detective Department. He is associated with the fugitive MP from the OPFL, Fedir Khrystenko, who is suspected of treason.
The SBU claims that confidential NABU documents were found during the searches of Khrystenko’s place.
The accusation of Russian influence on the NABU was the main argument of the initiators of the bill.
Reaction
The NABU and the SAPO stated that these changes threaten the independence of the agencies and turn them into units of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Street protests took place in many cities of Ukraine. Critics of the document argue that it curtails the fight against corruption in Ukraine, returns the country to dictatorship and jeopardizes European integration. The European Union has already expressed its concern.
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