Gifts for the Armed Forces, restrictions for state and local officials, and the title of Hero of Ukraine for foreign citizens

29 April 2022
Gifts for the Armed Forces, restrictions for state and local officials, and the title of Hero of Ukraine for foreign citizens
Home > Uncategorized > Gifts for the Armed Forces, restrictions for state and local officials, and the title of Hero of Ukraine for foreign citizens

MPs propose to punish officials that have not returned to Ukraine after the introduction of martial law, significantly reduce remuneration for judges, and temporary recall bodyguards now protecting former top officials.

Qualifications on how to apply the Law on Prevention of Corruption under the martial law

Draft bill # 7280 of April 12, 2022

Cosponsors: eight MPs from all factions of the Verkhovna Rada with Anastasiia Radina (Servant of the People) as the first signatory.

Who is affected: the President, members of the Cabinet, MPs, local councilors, civil servants, judges, prosecutors, the Security Service, the SBI, the NABU, members of the Central Election Commission, service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military units, inhabitants of the temporarily occupied territories and combat zones, and employees of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP).

Summary of the bill: when martial law is in force, officials will be allowed to receive the following gifts:

  • money and goods that are received for free or for a price lower than minimal market value:

    • if these gifts were donated to special accounts opened by the National Bank or transferred to the Armed Forces or other military units — in particular, to boost combat preparedness, fighting efficiency, mobilization capacity, or work of the Armed Forces

    • if these gifts were donated as humanitarian aid for persons affected by the armed aggression of russia

  • persons submitting declarations will be allowed not to declare money and property donated to the Armed Forces or persons affected by the armed aggression of russia.

What is right: people fulfilling the functions of the state or local self-government are under significant restrictions as to how they can get and manage their money and property. In particular, they cannot receive or donate assets to the Armed Forces or a humanitarian effort without violating the current version of the Law on Prevention of Corruption. The proposed bill amends these shortcomings.

Restrictions for state and local authorities

Draft bill # 7303 of April 20, 2022

Cosponsors: Serhii Kuzminikh and Heorhii Mazurashu, Servant of the People faction.

Who is affected: the President, members of the Cabinet, MPs, local councilors, civil servants, judges, prosecutors, the Security Service, the State Bureau of Investigation, the NABU, members of the Central Election Commission, members of supervisory boards of state banks and state companies.

Summary of the bill:

  • new regulations for persons authorized to fulfill the functions of the state or local self-government:

    • criminal punishment will be introduced for failure to return to Ukraine without legitimate reason after the introduction of martial law

    • deadline for returning to Ukraine from abroad will be defined by the President

    • penalty for failure to return will be imprisonment from five to ten years

    • legitimate reasons preventing the return are the prohibition to leave the country of residence, natural disasters, catastrophes, accidents, business trips, medical treatment, etc.

  • while martial law is in force and during the period of restoration of the destroyed infrastructure:

    • bodyguards protecting former top officials will be recalled: from former presidents (they have the right to permanent state protection) and also former speakers of the Parliament, prime ministers, heads of the Constitutional Court, and ministers of foreign affairs and defense (they have the right to state protection within a year after the dismissal)

    • the state will cut allowance for judges of the Constitutional Court. Also, they will receive regular pensions instead of a special permanent allowance provided by the state. Under current legislation, retired judges of the Constitutional Court receive permanent allowance of over ₴90 thousand. If the bill is adopted, they will have no more than ₴19 thousand.

Background information:

  • a group of MPs from the Servant of the People faction has registered a draft bill introducing criminal punishment for several categories of citizens that failed to return to Ukraine after the introduction of martial law. In particular, that draft bill specified citizens subject to military service and “other persons whose return is provisioned by law”

  • however, Davyd Arakhamia, the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, later announced that the faction will not vote for this bill since their aim is “to punish several dozens of officials and MPs who fled from Ukraine in the time of war.”

What is wrong:

  • it is unjustified to introduce criminal punishment for failure to return to Ukraine from abroad after martial law is declared. Employees that fled from Ukraine or failed to appear at their workplace can be dismissed for gross violation of labor legislation. MPs or the President should be held responsible for their actions by Ukrainian voters
  • the draft bill affects significantly more than “several dozens of officials.” In the proposed version, new regulations are supposed to be applied to civil servants, and that is over 244 thousand people as of 2020. Many of them are women, so they had an option to leave the country if concerned for their personal safety, the safety of their relatives or children

  • there is no reason to address the issues of state bodyguards for former top officials or remuneration and pensions for judges of the Constitutional Court under martial law and during the period of the restoration of infrastructure in this draft bill: its primary focus is on an entirely different subject

  • remuneration and pension cuts for judges of the Constitutional Court violate the Constitution. The Constitutional Court on several occasions ruled that allowance and pension cuts for judges are unconstitutional. Financial allowance is a cornerstone of an independent judiciary, so its reduction will make the judiciary subordinate to officials in power.

Alternative solution:

  • it is enough to just dismiss civil servants and other employees who fled from the territory of Ukraine after the beginning of the russian military aggression against Ukraine, there is no reason to introduce criminal punishment for them

  • MPs and other elected officials should be held accountable by their voters or dismissed on the grounds defined by laws and the Constitution

  • the draft bill has to be divided into two separate bills. One of them can regulate the issue of the failure to return to Ukraine by top officials or their dismissal. The other has to regulate remuneration for judges and provide clear grounds, criteria, and terms when restrictions on remuneration can be applied.

Permission to award the title of Hero of Ukraine to foreigners

Draft bill # 7296 of April 18, 2022

Sponsor: Oleksii Honcharenko, European Solidarity faction.

Who is affected: foreigners, stateless persons, and the President.

Summary of the bill:

  • the bill will allow awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine to foreigners and stateless persons for heroic deeds — protection of rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, outstanding labor achievement

  • it will also be possible to award the title of Hero of Ukraine to foreigners and stateless persons posthumously.

Why this is important:

  • citizens of other countries do participate in fighting off the armed aggression of russia against Ukraine

  • there were precedents when foreigners received the title of Hero of Ukraine. The title was awarded posthumously as an exception to a foreigner awarded with the Order of Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred: in 2017, the title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded to the participant of the Revolution of Dignity Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi, a citizen of Belarus.