During a meeting with human rights leaders aimed at strengthening democracy in Ukraine on Jan. 13, President Viktor Yanukovych said that he only recently learned that the Criminal Procedure Code adopted in 1961 is still in force.
“I met yesterday with the chairmen of regional and local administrations… Let me tell you, most of them were surprised as I was to learn that we are still using the code adopted in 1961, er, or 1960. It’s difficult to explain why this is the case,” media quoted Yanukovych as saying.
The president also said that he and the country’s new leaders will press on with attempts to turn Ukraine into a modern European state. The country must develop on the basis of principles enshrined by the Constitution adopted in 1996,” he said. “The principles are freedom, democracy, rule of law and the recognition by the government of human rights and basic freedoms.
