Scandalous draft law on information from registries: the head of the Verkhovna Rada Anti-Corruption Committee questioned its feasibility

It is not entirely clear what problem the draft law on increasing liability for disseminating data from e-registers, which media outlets claim threatens freedom of speech, is supposed to solve. For example, there is already liability for hacker attacks on registries. This was stated by Anastasia Radina, the head of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy in the Verkhovna Rada, to UNN.

I did not support this draft law (No. 10242 - ed.) and do not plan to support it in the second reading because the way the provisions of the draft law are currently written makes it possible to bring to criminal responsibility, in particular, whistleblowers, i.e. journalists' sources. Allows the use of wiretapping measures, including against journalists in the framework of relevant criminal proceedings

In her opinion, this is not acceptable.

"I don't fully understand what problem this draft law solves in principle. There is responsibility, for example, for hacker attacks on registries. I see more risks in it than opportunities to solve any real problem," Radina said.

Addendum

The Verkhovna Rada failed to pass in the second reading a draft law that would have provided for an 8-year prison sentence for leaking information from state penal registers.

The draft law was registered in November last year. In January 2024, it was adopted as a basis. In July of this year, the Rada tried to pass it in the second reading, but there were not enough votes and it was sent back for a second reading.

On November 27, the relevant committee on law enforcement prepared the draft law for a second reading and recommended that the parliament adopt it in the second reading and as a whole as a law, in the wording proposed by the committee, with the necessary technical and legal amendments.

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement recommended that the parliament adopt draft law No. 10242 in the second reading, which provides for an 8-year prison sentence for leaking information from state registers. Earlier, the same draft law was "rejected" and sent back for a second reading.

Media Movement stated that media and human rights NGOs in Ukraine called on MPs to withdraw their support for draft law No. 10242 in its current version. In their opinion, this draft law continues to pose significant threats to freedom of speech, the work of journalists, the protection of journalistic sources and corruption whistleblowers in Ukraine.

Its updated version, proposed for voting, has not eliminated the risks we highlighted in our previous statement of December 2, 2024. The draft law increases criminal liability for unauthorized dissemination of confidential information. By this, the legislator means making confidential information from public registers freely available or other actions that create the possibility of free access to such information by an indefinite number of persons. This definition is contained in a note to Article 361 of the Criminal Code, and it has not been changed from the text that was put to vote two weeks ago.

"Criminal liability for disclosure of confidential information from the registers should be accompanied by the creation of reliable mechanisms for the protection of journalists and corruption whistleblowers," emphasized Mediarukh.