Draft bill #12269 of November 29, 2024 

Cosponsors: a group of 16 MPs from the Servant of the People, Holos, and European Solidarity factions with Anastasiia Radina as the first signatory 

Status: sent for review to the Law Enforcement Committee of the Verkhovna Rada 

Who is affected: courts, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and individuals who have committed corruption offenses 

Summary: 

  • the bill adds a clarification in the Criminal Code that confiscation of property can be imposed even when not provided for by the articles of the Criminal Code in question. This will be possible under the following conditions: 
    • if the court has approved a plea agreement in a corruption case 
    • if the accused individual and prosecutor have agreed on confiscation of property as an additional penalty 
  • if a person has been convicted of a corruption offense and released on parole, the court will have the power to additionally impose confiscation of property. However, this will be possible only if: 
    • the conviction occurred under a plea agreement 
    • the accused and the prosecutor agreed on such additional penalty in this agreement 
  • the heads and members of medical social expertise commissions (and individuals who will perform these functions after the dissolution of these commissions) will be added to the circle of subjects of illegal enrichment, as well as heads, deputies, members, or secretaries of ad hoc permanent military medical commissions and air force medical commissions. 

What is right: 

  • the bill will restore the confiscation as an additional penalty in cases when it is agreed upon by the parties in a plea agreement regarding corruption offenses 
  • the bill will enable accountability for illegal enrichment of heads and members of medical social expertise commissions, as well as heads, deputies, members, or secretaries of ad hoc permanent military medical commissions and air force medical commissions. 

Background information: 

  • during the second reading of a law stripping traitors of state awards, MPs removed the option of imposing property confiscation as an additional penalty 
  • in accordance with the decision of the National Security and Defense Council regarding the activities of medical social expertise commissions, the National Agency for Corruption Prevention was recommended to develop a draft bill including the heads and members of these commissions in the list of subjects of criminal responsibility for illegal enrichment and as defendants in cases regarding the recognition of assets as unjustified (civil confiscation).