After criticism, foreign auditors finally approved the criteria and methodology for evaluating NABU

On November 18, the Commission on Audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine approved criteria and methodology for assessing the effectiveness of the Bureau. This was reported by the Secretariat of the Commission, UNN reports.

Details

The audit will cover the period from March 6, 2023 (the date of appointment of the current director) to November 18, 2024 (the date of approval of the criteria and methodology). The document approved by the auditors defines the objectives, principles, procedures for conducting the assessment and determining the final conclusion on the effectiveness of the NABU's activities, as well as the assessment criteria.

"During the first audit, the Commission identified objective criteria and developed a methodology from scratch to assess the effectiveness of the NABU for a period of more than a year and a half. Determining objective criteria for measuring effectiveness, especially for an organization like NABU, is fraught with significant difficulties, as there is no single, internationally recognized list of benchmarks for assessing the effectiveness of an anti-corruption agency. We focus on objective conclusions and actionable recommendations for process improvement, not just on assessing success or failure," said Robert Westbrooks, Chairman of the Commission for the External Independent Evaluation (Audit) of the NABU's Performance.

The criteria and methodology define five performance dimensions by which the NABU will be evaluated, namely:

-        detection and investigation of high-level corruption - The main indicator of the NABU's effectiveness is the number and quality of high-level corruption investigations. However, in practice, the number of guilty verdicts in NABU cases is critically low compared to the number of investigated cases. According to experts, the NABU is "choked" in its cases, as it investigates non-priority and sometimes PR and political cases, which paralyzes its work. In addition, high-profile accusations by NABU and SAPO often end in acquittals, as was the case with the case against former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, whom detectives publicly accused  of crimes but failed to prove his guilt in court.

·        dintegrity, accountability and transparency – effective internal and external control mechanisms that regulate the consideration of applications for illegal actions of NABU employees, and timely information about activities and achievements, provided that information with restricted access is properly protected, the disclosure of which may harm the investigation. At the same time, human rights activists are sounding the alarm because of systematic violations by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors of the presumption of innocence.

-        Leadership, strategy and resource management - knowledge and information management systems for informed decision-making, thorough internal monitoring and evaluation processes, rational allocation of technical and material resources. At the same time, the NABU is "famous" for its procurement, for example, detectives wanted to buy air conditioners with heating for almost UAH 1.3 million, while the authorities and international organizations warn of an extremely difficult energy situation this winter. In addition, the bureau will spend more than 50 thousand hryvnias to purchase three portable weather stations. And these are just a few examples. In addition, the NABU has recently been involved in internal disputes with the bureau's former first deputy director, Gizo Uglava, accusing him of violations in the performance of his direct duties. Uglava, in turn, statedthat NABU is a politically biased body that is under the influence of outsiders.

-        Minteragency cooperation - coordinated and functional cooperation with key national partner institutions. The Bureau demonstrates particular coherence in its work with other anti-corruption agencies. As practice shows, anti-corruption agencies created by "one idea" turn a blind eye to each other's violations. For example, the NACP records conflicts of interest when NABU detectives order examinations from friendly private entities , in particular, this applies to LLC "ES&D". But despite the recordings, the NACP refrains from inspections.

-        Iinternational cooperation - active international cooperation for the protection of evidence. It is worth noting that the Shadow Report to Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" of the European Commission's Report on Ukraine for 2023 statesthat in a number of court cases, violations of the principle of presumption of innocence were recorded by NABU detectives who, in public comments and interviews, actually "appointed" the defendants guilty. However, the NABU does not respond to such comments from its partners.

It should be noted that last week the public Control Council criticized the independent audit at NABU due to the fact that the criteria have not yet been published and its deadlines are not clear. The RGC even decided to create a working group to investigate the mechanism and procedure for conducting the audit.

It was after the statement of the Public Control Council that the Commission announced that it had approved the audit criteria and methodology.

Recall

On October 3, NABU finally launched an external independent audit. International experts who will conduct a review of the work of detectives held a closed meeting in Kiev with representatives of public organizations and other members of the public who Work in the field of preventing and combating corruption. At this meeting, anti-corruption activists and lawyers expressed concern about the effectiveness of investigations and transparency of the NABU's work.

After receiving the necessary documents, foreign auditors left Ukraineto develop and approve the criteria and methodology for conducting the assessment.

Add

Recently, the public has accumulated many questions about the work of NABU detectives. In particular, there are frequent statements about the loss of independence of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine. This, among other things, was stated by the recently dismissed First Deputy Director of the Bureau, Gizo Uglava. He has repeatedly hinted that decisions at the NABU are made under the influence of external factors, not on the basis of the law. Among the individuals and institutions that, in his opinion, exerted this pressure were activists of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, who, as Uglava noted, used to work at the AntAC.

Uhla emphasizedthat the actions against him indicate serious problems in the NABU investigation process, which is focused on achieving external goals rather than establishing the truth.

The same opinion is supported by lawyers, who also stated that the real goal of anti-corruption activists has turned from fighting corruption to putting pressure on certain public officials to achieve "external" goals.

In addition, human rights activists are sounding the alarm about systematic violations of the presumption of innocence by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors.

This was recorded, in particular, in the shadow report to Section 23 "Justice and fundamental rights" of the European Commission's report on Ukraine for 2023, prepared by the coalition of public organizations. According to the document, in a number of court cases, judges recorded violations of the principle of presumption of innocence on the part of NABU detectives, who in public comments and interviews actually "appointed" the defendants guilty.