More severe penalties for corruption offenses

Draft bill #9029 of January 17, 2023

Cosponsors: a group of 10 MPs from the European Solidarity faction 

Status: submitted to the Verkhovna Rada 

Who is affected: civil servants, employees of local self-governance bodies, persons providing public services, and citizens of Ukraine 

Summary of the bill: 

• penalties for corruption offenses will be more severe if committed while martial law is declared 
• the minimum punishment for misappropriation of public funds will be increased from 2 to 3 years imprisonment. The maximum sentence will remain unchanged: 5 years imprisonment 
• abuse of power will also be punished more severely while martial law is declared: from 5 to 8 years imprisonment instead of 3 to 6. 

What is right: 

• proposals introduced in the draft bill are in line with the logic of the Criminal Code that provisions more severe penalties for many crimes if committed while martial law is declared 
• authorities will be less prone to abuse their powers while martial law is declared.