Draft bill #10440 of January 29, 2024 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 

Status: sent for review to the Law Enforcement Committee 

Who is affected: businesses, the Bureau of Economic Security, prosecutors, other law enforcement agencies, and the Business Ombudsman Council 

Summary: 

  • BES detectives and prosecutors in cases under the BES jurisdiction will be prohibited from issuing written instructions to conduct investigative or search actions (except covert ones) to other operational units, except for detectives and technical divisions of the BES itself. If the BES operational unit cannot take the assignment, then the BES detective or prosecutor will have the power to give orders to an operational unit of another agency but with the mandatory participation of a BES detective in its execution 
  • in criminal proceedings concerning cases that are investigated by the BES, the execution of a court’s decision granting access to the company’s property or documents or about a search on the company’s premises will be possible only with the participation of a representative of the Business Ombudsman Council. If the latter cannot show up and warned about their absence in advance, the court’s decision will still be executed 
  • other law enforcement agencies will be prohibited from registering criminal cases that should be under the jurisdiction of the BES. Instead, they will be obliged to transfer information regarding such criminal offenses to the BES within 24 hours after they receive a notification about them. If a law enforcement agency still registers a criminal case under the jurisdiction of the BES, then the prosecutor will have to transfer it to the Bureau 
  • the mandate of the BES will be extended: cases concerning the smuggling of cultural valuables and weapons, as well as the smuggling of drugs and counterfeit medications, will be under its jurisdiction. 

What is wrong: 

  • extension of the BES’s jurisdiction to smuggling of cultural values, weapons, drugs, and counterfeit medications does not fit the role of the BES in the fight against crime: such crimes are more about organized cross-border crime than pure economic crime 
  • the standard deadline for the registration of a notification about a criminal offense is 24 hours. To transfer the information about such a notification to the BES can take up to 48 hours. 

Alternative solution: 

  • risks of power abuse by law enforcement agencies, courts, and prosecution should be addressed.