Imprisonment should be provided for intentionally providing inaccurate information amounting to more than UAH 1 million. Otherwise, it will be impossible to effectively prevent corruption – NACP

As a result of the constitutional crisis, today, one of the main objectives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine remains the restoration of criminal liability for failure to submit a declaration and knowingly providing inaccurate information. In particular, there are ongoing discussions on whether imprisonment should be considered for lying in a declaration. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) emphasizes that effective corruption prevention is possible only if the new Article of the Criminal Code considers the possibility of imprisonment for intentional false declaration amounting to more than UAH 1.051 million (500 amounts of the minimum subsistence level for able-bodied persons as of 01.01.2020). “In our country, a teenager can be imprisoned for several years for petty theft. However, some people consider imprisonment for lying in a declaration for UAH millions to be too severe a punishment. This position is unfounded from both a legal and ethical point of view, and in general contradicts elementary logic,” said Oleksandr Novikov, Head of NACP. In addition, the existence of punishment in the form of imprisonment for providing inaccurate information in declarations is an effective tool for corruption prevention. Being aware of possible liability, officials will have a specific motivation to fill out the declarations honestly. At the same time, liability only in the form of a fine will not frighten the corrupt officials in any way – they will be able to pay it at the expense of funds obtained through fraud. Thus, this type of punishment will have a necessary preventive effect and allow the court to impose a sufficient and fair punishment on each offender (taking into account the nature of the offense, the offender, mitigating or aggravating circumstances, etc.). International practice Imprisonment of a person for intentionally providing inaccurate information in a declaration is a common international practice. Such punishment exists in many countries, including the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Peru. In Poland, providing false information in a declaration entails imprisonment for up to 5 years (Article 14 of the Law). In Lithuania, providing inaccurate information on income, profits or assets is punishable by imprisonment for up to 8 years (Article 220 of the Criminal Code). In Peru, individuals that submit false information in declarations are punishable by imprisonment for a term of not less than four and not more than eight years (Article 220 of the Special Law).