Restrictions for candidates for the NABU Director, critical infrastructure protection, and a ban on live translation from the Parliament

MPs banned candidates who were abroad during the russian invasion from running for the NABU Director position, prolonged prohibition on live translation from the Parliament, and made amendments to legislation on critical infrastructure protection. 

New restrictions for candidates for the NABU Director 

Draft bill # 8003 of September 6, 2022 

Status: passed as a law 

Who is affected: candidates for the NABU Director 

Summary of the bill: 

• a person who stayed abroad for over 21 days total since the declaration of martial law will not be eligible for the NABU Director position. Restrictions do not apply to persons who went for treatment after being wounded, shell-shocked, or maimed or went for treatment from other medical issues they received in action or on a mission of national security and defense matters. 

What is wrong: 

• there is an endless number of legal reasons to travel abroad besides those listed in the bill. For women, for example, there are no restrictions on traveling abroad at all. That is why legal and lawful travel to other countries cannot be an obstacle for a person to run for any office, including the NABU Director position. 

Alternative solution: the President should veto the bill since it introduces illegal restrictions on access to public offices. The restrictions in question can be justified only if a male candidate subject to military service traveled abroad illegally. 

Changes to critical infrastructure protection management 

Draft bill # 7607 of June 28, 2022 

Status: adopted in the first reading 

Who is affected: the Cabinet, the State Special Communications Service of Ukraine, owners and users of critical infrastructure objects 

Summary of the bill: 

• the Parliament will not have to create a separate designated government body responsible for critical infrastructure protection. Instead, the bill designates the State Special Communication Service to perform the function of such a body, i.e. to design and implement the state policy on critical infrastructure protection. 

What is right: 

• there is no reason to create a separate government body responsible for critical infrastructure protection because its mandate will overlap with the mandate of other government bodies regulating the work of critical infrastructure objects under their jurisdictions. 

What is wrong: 

• the State Special Communications Service of Ukraine (the SSCS) is not a ministry and thus cannot be responsible for defining the state policy on the matter 
• the competence of the SSCS is limited to special communications and information protection. Thus, it cannot properly ensure the protection of all critical infrastructure in the state because the SSCS has no expertise in protecting the majority of critical infrastructure objects 
• if the SSCS gets the authority to implement the state policy on critical infrastructure protection, its mandate will overlap with the mandates of ministries and departments exercising their functions in their sectors. 

Alternative solution: 

• the state policy on critical infrastructure protection should be designed and implemented by a ministry. In the current structure of the Cabinet, the most capable ministry to deal with this policy is the Ministry of Infrastructure 
• instead of creating or designating a single government body responsible for the state policy on critical infrastructure protection, the Parliament should create a coordination body that will be responsible for synchronizing interactions between different government bodies regulating the work of critical infrastructure objects in their particular spheres and sectors. 

Restrictions on live reports from the Verkhovna Rada 

Parliamentary resolution # 7739 of September 5, 2022 

Status: adopted 

Who is affected: inhabitants of Ukraine, MPs, and Rada TV 

Summary of the resolution: 

• Rada TV will not translate parliamentary meetings live due to security reasons while martial law is in force 

• Rada TV will be obliged to air news and other informational and analytic materials produced as a part of the United News telethon 
• the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada will be obliged to ensure that the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and his deputies make their official statements outside the premises of the building where the plenary meetings hall is located. The same applies to briefings by MPs. 

What is right: 

• there will be less chance that russia will strike the building of the Parliament while MPs are in session. 

What is wrong: 

• public control over MPs will continue to loosen. This can result in all kinds of violations 
• the resolution deals with the issue of protecting MPs during parliamentary sessions only partially since many people are engaged in the parliamentary work. It is hard to secure the information about dates and times when the Parliament holds its meetings.