NABU must remain institutionally independent — the official statement of the National Bureau on the declaring unconstitutional of certain provisions of the Law "On NABU"

NABU believes that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which recognized certain provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine" as not in line with the Constitution of Ukraine, is attempt to block the fight against political corruption and stop cleansing of the judiciary in the state.

It is the third decision of the CCU regarding the National Bureau. In 2019, the judges declared unconstitutional the article on illegal enrichment and deprived NABU of the authority to invalidate illegal agreements concluded by state-owned enterprises in court. Each of these decisions, by a strange coincidence, appeared in response to the effectiveness of the NABU's work in each of the mentioned areas.

According to the latest decision of the CCU, within the next three months the Law of Ukraine "On NABU" should be amended to regulate the legal aspects of the NABU functioning, which currently, in the opinion of the CCU judges, do not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, NABU is concerned on intentions of some political forces, primarily related to the suspects within the NABU investigations, to revise the Law in terms of depriving the National Bureau of institutional independence.

The NABU’s independence is the basic principle that determines the ability of the institution to resist pressure during the investigation of the corruption crimes committed by top-officials and to bring them to justice.

For five years, NABU and SAPO have brought to justice more than 800 persons, including Members of Parliament, Ministers, their Deputies, and senior officials. About 500 persons are accused of cimmitting crime. In recent months, the High Anti-Corruption Court issued decisions on the imprisonment of persons found guilty of committing corruption crimes in cases investigated by NABU. And this process is only gaining momentum. 

Therefore, we call on the Members of Parliament to preserve the institutional independence of the National Bureau as a guarantee of the effectiveness of the fight against corruption. In turn, NABU is ready to join the process of process of preparation and discussion of these amendments to the Law "On NABU".

It should be noted, that the National Bureau operates normally.