Draft bill #9587-д of August 9, 2023
Decision-maker: the Parliament
Status: adopted in the second reading, awaits to be signed by the President
Who is affected: public officials, civil servants, and local government officials (about 700,000 people), and the National Agency for Preventing Corruption
Summary of the bill:
- administrative protocols for late submission of asset declarations will be automatically issued by the register of asset declarations
- a person who has paid a fine for non-disclosure of property worth up to ₴1.3 million will be exempted from the status of a person subjected to administrative punishment
- new reasons will be added to the list of legitimate reasons for late submission of asset declarations, including circumstances of irresistible force (pandemics, military hostilities, natural disasters, and similar circumstances) and technical failures of the official NACP website
- a person will not be included in the Unified State Register of Individuals Who Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses (also known as “Corrupt Officials Register”) for late submission of an asset declaration
- records in the Corrupt Officials Register will be stored:
- for 1 year for administrative offenses related to corruption
- until conviction is expunged for criminal offenses.
What is right: thanks to the automated declaration verification there will be fewer interactions between employees of the NACP and persons submitting declarations.
What is wrong: an offender will have the opportunity to avoid being included in the Corrupt Officials Register by paying a fine. Such an approach undermines the institute of political responsibility and reputation.
Alternative solution:
- the President should veto the bill
- provisions exempting a person from administrative liability for non-disclosure of property and allowing a person not to be included in the Corrupt Officials Register should be excluded.