Delivering on one of his election promises, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy submitted his draft law on illegal enrichment to parliament on June 3.
The new bill comes as a replacement for a similar section of the Criminal Code that the Constitution Court canceled in a controversial ruling in February.
Zelenskiy proposes punishing public officials who possess unexplained assets exceeding their official income by Hr 204,000 ($7,586) with a term of five to 10 years in prison, the confiscation of property, and a ban on holding public office for three years.
The National Agency for Corruption Prevention, which is authorized to sift through asset declarations, will give public officials 10 days to provide evidence of the source of their wealth. If a civil servant fails to explain where the assets came from, the agency will be required to pass the case on to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The parliament’s corruption prevention committee is supposed to review the draft bill on June 6.
The Constitutional Court’s decision to abolish the article of the Criminal Code on illegal enrichment provoked a broad backlash from civil society and international donors. Criminalizing illegal enrichment by public officials had been a key requirement for Ukraine to receive a $17.5-billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund in 2015.
But the court’s ruling proved to be a de facto amnesty for high-profile state officials and judges, who had come under the National Anti-Corruption Bureau’s scrutiny.
The bureau had to close all 65 ongoing investigations into alleged illegal enrichment. Anti-graft detectives will not be able to reopen them, as the new law on illegal enrichment will not have retroactive force, the agency said.
In his inauguration speech on May 20, President Zelenskiy announced that he would dissolve the parliament. However, he also called on lawmakers to pass the law on illegal enrichment before the end of their term.
Snap parliamentary election is scheduled for July 21.
