Head of NACP calls on President Zelenskyy to veto a draft law that does not provide imprisonment for non-declaring

The Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) Oleksandr Novikov sent an official letter to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding the draft law № 4460-d, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on December 4.

In the letter, Oleksandr Novikov notes that this draft law does not provide imprisonment for persons who intentionally do not submit an e-declaration or intentionally indicate inaccurate information in it. Therefore, the Verkhovna Rada recognizes these actions not as crimes, but as criminal misdemeanors. That means that the corrupt official can be released from responsibility in the case of sincere repentance.

“The “transfer “of these acts from the category of crimes to the category of criminal misdemeanors provides an opportunity for an official to pay a fine and forget about filling a declaration to hide the property acquired in a corrupt manner,” – said Oleksander Novikov.

The Head of the NACP called on the President of Ukraine to veto the bill.

“Taking into account all facts mentioned above, I would like to ask you to apply the right of veto to this Law in accordance with paragraph 30 of Part 1 of Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine”, – he wrote in the letter. 

You can find the full text of the letter in English by the link. 

What has happened before?

On December 4, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law 4460-d. It restores criminal liability for declaring inaccurate information and non-submission of the declaration but does not provide imprisonment for such acts.

Only if a person intentionally does not declare a property that costs more than 4000 living wages for able-bodied persons (~$283,000), the court can impose a penalty of restriction of liberty (but not imprisonment) for up to 2 years. During the restriction of liberty, the corrupt official will not be detained in prison but will live in a detention center. Therefore, he/she will be able to freely use the means of communication (telephone, Internet) and leave the center with the permission of its management.

The NACP’s position remains unchanged: the person that internationally indicates inaccurate information on the property that costs more than $35,400 should be punished by imprisonment.