The bill submitted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on strengthening the powers of NABU and SAP provides for the return of old norms that existed before the adoption of bill No. 12414, mandatory polygraph testing for employees of NABU, SAP, BEB, the Prosecutor General's Office, SBI, and the National Police who have access to state secrets, as well as a ban on travel abroad for NABU employees. This is reported by UNN with reference to the card of bill No. 13533.
Details
According to the bill, the previous concept of "head of the prosecutor's office" is returned - the Prosecutor General, the Deputy Prosecutor General - the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (for prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office), the head of the regional prosecutor's office, the head of the district prosecutor's office and their first deputies and deputies, who act within their powers.
Bill No. 12414 excluded "Deputy Prosecutor General - Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office" from the concept of "head of the prosecutor's office."
It was envisaged that the Prosecutor General, in order to exercise his powers, has the right to issue a written instruction to the head of the pre-trial investigation body, which is mandatory for execution, regarding the provision of pre-trial investigation materials to him with a specified term and method of execution, however, in the President's version, this norm will not apply to detective units and internal control units of NABU.
The norm is returned, according to which the head of the SAP, his first deputy and deputy have the right to supplement, change or withdraw an appeal or cassation complaint.
The Prosecutor General will have the right, in case of ineffective pre-trial investigation in wartime conditions, to entrust another pre-trial investigation body with the pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses assigned to the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, as well as to entrust the BES with the investigation of criminal offenses assigned to the jurisdiction of other pre-trial investigation bodies.
It is forbidden to entrust the pre-trial investigation of a criminal offense assigned to the jurisdiction of NABU to another pre-trial investigation body, except in cases of objective circumstances that make it impossible for NABU to function or conduct a pre-trial investigation in wartime conditions.
The right to entrust the pre-trial investigation to another body in wartime conditions belongs to the deputy head of the SAP or the Prosecutor General.
The norm is also excluded, according to which the powers of the prosecutor, assigned, in particular, to the head of the SAP, can be assigned to another prosecutor of the prosecutor's office bodies exclusively by the decision of the Prosecutor General.
The norm is changed, according to which the head of the pre-trial investigation body is obliged to comply with the instructions and directives of the prosecutor, which are given in writing, supplemented by - "except for criminal proceedings, the pre-trial investigation of which is carried out by detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine."
A NABU detective is obliged to follow instructions and directives only from a SAP prosecutor, which are provided in writing.
The norm is excluded, according to which the dispute over jurisdiction in criminal proceedings, which may belong to the jurisdiction of NABU and BEB, is resolved by the Prosecutor General.
In addition, the provision is abolished, according to which the defendants in the case can directly apply to the Prosecutor General with a request to close the criminal proceedings if crimes are being investigated that were allegedly committed by: the ex-president of Ukraine, prime minister, minister or his deputy, people's deputy, judge, heads of NABU, BEB, SBI, National Bank or their deputies, deputy prosecutor general, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council or his deputies, etc.
Agreements on plea bargains between the prosecutor and the suspect are made with the consent of the head of the SAP. The initial version provided that agreements are made with the consent of the Prosecutor General, the head of the SAP.
At the President's suggestion, a written notice of suspicion is issued by the Prosecutor General and the head of the SAP regarding a people's deputy, a presidential candidate, the Ombudsman, the head and members of the Accounting Chamber, a SAP prosecutor, an employee and director of NABU, a deputy prosecutor general, and the head of the NACP.
Previously, it was stipulated that a written notice of suspicion to the aforementioned persons, as well as to the head of a permanent auxiliary body established by the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, a member of the Cabinet of Ministers, the director of the SBI and BEB, is issued by the Prosecutor General.
The President also proposes that the Prosecutor General and his deputies do not have the right to give instructions to SAP prosecutors and perform other actions that directly relate to the exercise of their powers by SAP prosecutors.
In case of voting and publication of the specified bill, employees of NABU, SAP, BEB, the Prosecutor General's Office, SBI, and the National Police who have access to state secrets must undergo a polygraph test using a methodology agreed with the Security Service of Ukraine, to determine whether they have committed actions in favor of the aggressor state.
Within 6 months, the SBU must conduct a check of NABU, SAP, BEB, Prosecutor General's Office, SBI, and National Police employees who have access to state secrets, to determine whether they have committed actions in favor of the aggressor state.
The Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice have been instructed to intensify efforts to search for and extradite by foreign states persons who evade pre-trial investigation, trial, or serving a sentence.
In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers, together with NABU, must within a month make changes to regulatory legal acts regarding the prohibition, during martial law, of NABU employees traveling abroad, except in cases of official business trips.
It should be noted that this bill has been designated as urgent for extraordinary consideration by the Rada.
Recall
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bill that restores the procedural powers and guarantees the independence of NABU and SAP. NABU and SAP urged the Verkhovna Rada to adopt this initiative as soon as possible to prevent threats to criminal proceedings.