"No one in Ukraine has done this": Kravchenko revealed the scale of criminal proceedings closures against businesses
Kyiv • UNN
The Prosecutor General's Office closed 8,000 criminal proceedings out of 23,000 against businesses in less than three months. This was the result of an audit conducted according to three criteria, which included examinations by both the prosecution and the defense.
The Prosecutor General's Office, in less than three months since the audit began, closed 8,000 criminal proceedings out of 23,000 due to the absence of objective data about the crime. The audit is conducted in three stages, taking into account relevant expert opinions from both the prosecution and the defense, stated Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin during the Kyiv International Economic Forum, as reported by UNN.
When I took office, I had another priority. Not only coordination, but also the protection of business and investments. What did we start with? With an audit of all criminal proceedings registered in business cases. At the end of May, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on the dashboard to the public that almost 6,000 criminal proceedings had been registered against businesses. After the audit, we found almost 23,000 criminal proceedings registered against businesses.
The Prosecutor General emphasized that, first of all, a thorough audit of criminal proceedings was conducted. For this purpose, three criteria were established, which allowed for a consistent review of criminal proceedings.
After that, we started conducting a thorough audit of these criminal proceedings. We had three criteria. First, criminal proceedings that had been open for years and nothing was being done about them. We checked whether there was a judicial prospect, whether there was a corpus delicti. If we did not establish this, we closed these criminal proceedings. The second criterion was if there was, at first glance, a judicial prospect, a corpus delicti, and the business said that there was nothing – we appointed expert examinations. Mostly economic expert examinations. If the expert examinations did not establish a corpus delicti, we closed these cases. If we and the law enforcement agencies saw a corpus delicti, we appointed expert examinations. If we are confident in our position, we send the indictment to court.
Kravchenko emphasized that the audit concludes with a comprehensive expert examination, taking into account the positions of both the prosecution and the defense. Thanks to this methodology, 8,000 criminal proceedings were closed in less than three months.
There is an expert examination from our side, there is an expert examination from the defense. We appoint comprehensive expert examinations and put an end to this issue. And today, we have already closed, in less than three months, 8,000 criminal proceedings out of 23,000 criminal proceedings... No one in Ukraine, throughout its independence, from law enforcement agencies has done this.
Addition
On July 8, Prosecutor General Kravchenko announced a thorough audit of "stalled" business cases at the Prosecutor General's Office. According to him, these are cases that have not been investigated for years, contained no objective data of a crime, and had no judicial prospects.
On September 2, Kravchenko presented the "StopPressure" portal to simplify business life and prevent pressure. The portal will ensure constant operational communication, protecting honest businesses.
On October 7, Ruslan Kravchenko reported that after a month of operation of the "StopPressure" portal, which was established to ensure direct communication between businesses and the prosecutor's office, 12 businesses had achieved results.