On Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October, the EU delegation to Ukraine and a group of MEPs stressed their deep concern about the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine handed down on 28 October regarding elements of anti-corruption legislation.
According to the EU delegation, the decision has far-reaching consequences for the entire anti-corruption infrastructure in Ukraine, while also calling into question a number of international commitments that Ukraine has undertaken vis-à-vis its international partners, including the EU. “We urge the Ukrainian authorities to take steps, as soon as possible, to restore the conditions necessary for the effective functioning of the anti-corruption system in Ukraine and in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine”, explained the delegation. It added that it was ready to assist in finding ways to restore the legal certainty necessary for ensuring that the system for preventing corruption in Ukraine is effective.
In a joint statement, six MEPs – Michael Gahler (EPP, Germany) and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA, Germany), Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (S&D, Poland) and Andrius Kubilius (EPP, Latvia), Sandra Kalniete (EPP, Latvia) and Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Latvia) - deemed the law on the prevention of corruption to be “one of the cornerstones of Ukrainian anti-corruption policy”, thereby underlining their deep concerns about the legal vacuum created by the judgment. In their view, the Ukrainian Government and Parliament must act “as soon as possible” to fill this legal vacuum and quickly re-establish a “fully operational, effective and comprehensive” institutional architecture for fighting corruption. “A fully empowered National Agency on Corruption Prevention plays a crucial role and the judgment should not be used as a pretext to weaken it or sideline it”, warned the MPs.
The Constitutional Court has invalidated anti-corruption measures that have been in force for several years on the basis that they believed them to be too severe. It also reduced the powers of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAZK). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)