An anti-corruption law has been re-passed in Ukraine. That new law restores parts of the old law passed in October with a judgment of the Constitutional Court had to leave the table.
Among other things, the income limit and the criminal prosecution of civil servants who provide incorrect information have been reintroduced into the law. The bar is now set at an income of more than 260,000 euros, civil servants who earn that or more must provide insight into how they get it.
Judges of the court ruled in October that the law was unconstitutional and that officials could not be prosecuted for incorrectly completing declarations.
For several years, Ukrainian officials have been obliged to record their donations more accurately, making corruption easier to detect and corrupt officials more easily prosecuted. But the court found that too great an intrusion into the officials’ personal lives.
Rapprochement with the EU
Anti-corruption activists did not want an income limit at all, but the Speaker of Parliament calls it “a reasonable compromise”. The chairman expects President Zelensky to sign the law next week.
Former actor Volodymyr Zelensky won the Ukrainian presidential election last year with a promise to crack down on corruption, but critics say he does too little. Zelensky argues that reducing corruption is a precondition for further rapprochement with the European Union.
–
