The European Union sees anti-corruption institutions as the key tool in implementing reform in Ukraine and building up closer ties with the Bloc.

Following a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court to abolish criminal liability for inaccurate declaration of assets by officials, the European Union's Delegation to Ukraine reminded that the provision of financial assistance is "directly linked" to the independent anti-corruption architecture.

"The EU considers the institutions to fight corruption, created after the Revolution of Dignity at the request of the Ukrainian people, to be a tool of crucial importance for Ukraine's transformation and for closer political and economic association with the EU," the Delegation wrote in response to UNIAN's inquiry.

"European Union's massive assistance, including financial, in several areas is therefore directly linked to the anti-corruption architecture working independently, efficiently and free of political or other pressure," the statement says.

The EU is now looking forward to the publication of the Constitutional Court's ruling on elements of the anti-corruption legislation "that must of course be in compliance with the Constitution," diplomats note.

"If requested by Ukrainian authorities, the EU would then be ready to assist on ways to restoring the necessary legal certainty, as was also the case in previous decisions by the Constitutional Court related to the anti-corruption institutionsm," the EU Delegation has said.

CCU ruling on inaccurate asset declaration

 

On October 27, the Constitutional Court ruled on the motion submitted by 47 lawmakers to cancel Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for inaccurate declaration of assets. The ruling comes into force from the moment of its adoption.

Member of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Supervisory Board, former MP and ex-journalist Serhiy Leshchenko reported on his Telegram channel that the Constitutional Court had canceled the anti-corruption reform on the motion of MPs with the Opposition Bloc – for Life and Za Majbutne (For the Future) parties.

"The draft [ruling] was handed out in the morning and then voted on. Things like that didn't happen even under [disgraced ex-president Viktor] Yanukovych. Only four judges opposed: Lemak, Pervomaisky, Kolesnik and Holovatyi," Leshchenko said.

At the same time, Verkhovna Rada's envoy to the Constitutional Court, Olha Sovhiria, stressed that the Court had handed down the ruling, questionable in its content, with flagrant procedural violations. "Unfortunately, as regards today's ruling by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding anti-corruption legislation, Ukraine runs the risk of being drawn into a grandiose international scandal," she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

Pursuant to the ruling, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) blocked public access to the register of government officials' electronic declarations.

The president's envoy to the CCU has told UNIAN that the Constitutional Court had acted in violation of regulations and amid conflict of interest when passing the decision as some judges were targeted in asset declaration-related probes.

Also, the Schemy journalistic investigation project found out that Chairman of the Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytsky failed to declare a land plot in the village of Koreyiz in Russia-occupied Crimea, which he had acquired under Russian law in 2018.

At the same time, restrictions on interaction with illegal bodies created in the temporarily occupied territory are legally established for Ukrainian officials.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Source -  UNIAN

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29.10.2020 11:30