The development of honest business is impossible in a country where the authorities provoke a legal and political crisis, threaten the pro-European vector enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, limit the rights of citizens, in particular, to access to public information, fair and just trial, and the rule of law.
In our opinion, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) exceeded its authority. It made an unreasonable decision by its judgment on the constitutional petition of 47 people’s deputies of Ukraine regarding the compliance (constitutionality) of certain provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” and the Criminal Code of Ukraine with the Constitution of Ukraine. We agree with some opinions of judges Serhiy Holovaty and Vasyl Lemak.
The cancellation of criminal liability for lying in e-declarations, restricted access to the register of declarations of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), destruction of the institutional capacity of anti-corruption bodies to control unscrupulous employees severally damage the entire system of decisions aimed at simplifying the business environment and introducing equal opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Open information about the integrity of officials often became the basis for responsibility (both legal, political, and social) to society. The decision of the CCU greatly complicated the possibility of bringing unscrupulous civil servants to responsibility.
The denial of the NAPC’s authority to control judges is a step towards a systematic imbalance in the existing constitutional check-and-balance system in the mechanism of exercising state authority in Ukraine.
Such a decision cannot contribute to the establishment of Ukraine’s reputation as a reliable and predictable partner, and the achievement of comprehensive and enhanced integration with the European Union in implementation of the Association Agreement ratified by the Verkhovna Rada on September 16, 2014.
The Better Regulation Delivery calls on the President, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Government to do everything possible to restore the legality of the situation in the country, restore the rights of citizens to exercise public control over the authorities and comply with all Ukraine’s obligations to international partners.