The decisions ruled by the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine during 2019-2020 related to the fight against corruption cause concern. The consequences of such rulings are the systemic weakening of the institutional capacity of the bodies established to expose corruption. These rulings lead to the release from liability of persons involved in causing damages to the interests of the state on an especially large scale.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine, by its decisions, deprived NABU of the authority to invalidate illegal agreements in court, actually released the officials from criminal liability for illegal enrichment and for failure to submit a declaration. In general, due to these rulings, the opportunity to recover billions of losses caused by corruption is lost forever.
On September 17, 2020, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared as unconstitutional certain provisions of the Law "On NABU" in terms of the authority of the President of Ukraine. Although this decision does not cancel the fact of the establishment and functioning of the National Bureau, does not restrict the work of the NABU Detectives and does not question the status of the National Bureau as a state law enforcement agency, it contains threats to the full-fledged work of the institution in the future.
Through the declaring as unconstitutional authority of the President, provided by the Law "On NABU", in less than a month and a half outside the legal framework will be such issues as:
- appointment and dismissal of the Director of the National Bureau,
- carrying out independent audits of institution,
- election and functioning of the Civil Oversight Council at NABU.
The current situation requires an immediate solution. However, we are convinced that it should be considered in a broader context than the regulation of the legal basis for the functioning of the National Bureau. Indeed, in the current conditions there is a risk that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine can destroy any other anti-corruption body through the adoption of political decisions.
