Draft bill #9362-1 of June 23, 2023 

Cosponsors: a group of 10 MPs from the Servant of the People faction with Oleh Bondarenko as the first signatory 

Status: adopted in the first reading 

Who is affected: the maintainers of civil protection facilities (enterprises, territorial communities, state bodies, etc.), the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES), and courts 

Summary: 

  • introduces criminal liability for violating the requirements for maintaining and operating civil protection facilities (bomb shelters). If such a violation leads to the death of a person or other grave consequences, it will be punishable by imprisonment from 3 to 8 years 
  • introduces administrative liability for: 
    • violations of the legislative requirements for maintaining and operating shelters — a fine from 3,400 to 8,500 UAH 
    • if such an offense is committed repeatedly — a fine from 8,500 to 17,000 UAH. No protocol is drawn up for such cases 
  • increases the size of fines for creating obstacles to the work of authorized officials of the SES, including work related to inspections. Fines will range from 6,800 to 13,600 UAH 
  • in cases of administrative offenses handled by the SES, no protocol will be drawn up. 

What is right: the bill establishes a mechanism for holding accountable parties responsible for the poor condition of bomb shelters and lack of access to them. 

What is wrong: establishing criminal liability for violating the requirements for the maintenance and operation of shelters is redundant. They are already covered under Article 367 of the Criminal Code, “Neglect of official duty.” The article establishes liability for the failure to perform or improper performance by an official of his/her official duties due to negligence, where it caused any substantial damage to the legally protected rights and interests of individual citizens, state and public interests, or interests of legal entities (part 1), as well for the same action, where it caused any grave consequences (part 2). 

Alternative solution: remove the provisions on criminal liability from the draft bill. 

How to help the legislator: proposals concerning the draft bill can be sent to the Law Enforcement Committee of the Verkhovna Rada.