Confiscation of corrupt officials’ property is back in the law: Rada corrects “mistake”
5 December 12:21
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has reinstated a legal provision that provides for the confiscation of property of persons accused of corruption if they enter into a plea bargain with the investigation. To this end, the parliament adopted in the second reading and as a whole the draft law No. 12243-1, which was voted for by 276 MPs. This was reported in Telegram by MPs Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Oleksiy Honcharenko, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
“The Rada has corrected the mistake and returned the rule on the confiscation of corrupt officials’ property in case of a deal with the investigation (No. 12243-1),”
– Honcharenko wrote.
According to Zn.ua, the original intention was to return this provision because of the controversial draft law No. 10242, which was heavily criticized for its proposal to introduce up to eight years in prison for disclosing confidential information from public registers. The provision on the confiscation of corrupt officials’ property was added to this document without much discussion, just as quietly as it was removed from another law.
Draft law No. 10242 was protested by media and human rights organizations. As a result, the Verkhovna Rada sent the document back for revision.
Follow us on Telegram: the main news in brief
Earlier, the provision on confiscation of property was abolished through the adoption of a law on deprivation of state awards to collaborators. However, this change caused outrage in the European Union, as the preservation of this provision was a condition for Ukraine to receive financial assistance in the amount of 4 million euros.
It is noteworthy that Ukraine has already received these funds, and only later did MPs remove the requirement for confiscation, which called into question compliance with its obligations. Therefore, the restoration of the confiscation of property is an important step towards meeting European requirements and strengthening the fight against corruption in Ukraine.
Earlier, on October 29, the Verkhovna Rada passed a draft law on plea bargaining in corruption cases. This law introduces a new article that allows for a shorter prison term than required by the code in case of cooperation with the investigation through exposing accomplices and compensation for damage – for example, 5 years instead of 8.
