In its first reading, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law on the cleansing of power, popularly known as the "lustration law." Essentially, the document (if finally approved by MPs and signed by the head of state) will allow the dismissal of virtually all heads of state agencies who held positions under President Yanukovych. And more. The publication "GORDON" We discussed this with a lawyer. This article will tell you who exactly should pack their bags in large (and smaller) offices.
Lawyer Viktor Yermolaev is confident that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will never sign the new law (at least in its current form). He says, "The document is crude, ill-conceived, and in many ways contradicts the Constitution."
The essence of the law is that civil servants and officials will now be required to undergo a special background check before taking up their position. The checks will be very thorough: documents, biographies, and asset and income declarations. The latter will apply to all close relatives of the official, including common-law spouses (husbands) and even great-grandchildren and great-grandmothers.
The result is simple: anyone who fails the test (or refuses to undergo it) will be dismissed from their position and, moreover, will be deprived of the right to hold it for 10 years from the date of dismissal.
The following are required to undergo the inspection:
* Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, his first deputy and deputy.
* The Prime Minister of Ukraine, all his deputies (vice prime ministers) and all ministers.
* Other heads of central executive bodies who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and their deputies (head of the Pension Fund, head of the Audit Department, head of the State Treasury, heads of state commissions, departments, directorates, heads of regional administrations, etc.).
* Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine. Officials and service persons of the SBU bodies.
* Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Officials and service persons of the prosecutor's office.
* Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.
* Chairman of the Accounts Chamber.
* Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights.
* Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea).
* People's Deputies of Ukraine (and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea).
* Military officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (and other military formations formed in accordance with the laws, except for military personnel on active military service and military personnel serving by conscription upon mobilization).
* Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and other professional judges.
* Rank and file and command staff of the internal affairs agencies, the criminal executive state service, the tax police, civil defense agencies and units, and the diplomatic service.
* Members of the Central Electoral Commission.
* Officials and service persons of other state bodies, authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local government bodies.
* Including those who apply to occupy all of these positions in the future.
But the main intrigue of lustration (the cleansing of power) is that, under the new law, there are already people who are automatically, by default, considered to have failed the background check. And, accordingly, they should be fired with a black mark. There are several such categories.
Category one: "the entire Yanukovych period"
These are those who held positions during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency, that is, from February 25, 2010, to February 22, 2014. Specifically:
* President of Ukraine.
* Prime Minister of Ukraine, vice prime ministers, ministers, heads of other central executive bodies.
* Head of the Security Service of Ukraine.
* Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
* Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.
* Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine.
* Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
* Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
* Director of the Bureau for Anti-Corruption Policy of the Cabinet of Ministers Secretariat.
* Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
* Government Commissioner for Anti-Corruption Policy of Ukraine.
* Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
* Head of the State Administration of Affairs.
* Members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, members of the High Council of Justice.
* Regional prosecutors, Kyiv and Sevastopol city prosecutors, Crimean Autonomous Republic prosecutors, district prosecutors, inter-district prosecutor's offices, city prosecutor's offices, and specialized prosecutor's offices. As well as their first deputies and deputies.
Category two: "Yanukovych's last period"
These are those who, from December 1, 2013 (following the dispersal of protesters on the Maidan in Kyiv) to February 22, 2014 (following the flight of President Yanukovych and his "team"), did not resign voluntarily from government bodies and continued to hold office. Specifically:
* Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights.
* First Deputy Minister (of any).
* First Deputy Head of the central executive body.
* Chairman or members of collegial bodies of state power.
* Heads of territorial divisions of local ministries.
* Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
* Heads of regional and district state administrations and their deputies. Including city and district administrations in Kyiv and Sevastopol.
* The head of the presidential administration of Ukraine and his deputies.
* Head of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and his deputies.
* Members of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
* Heads of structural divisions of the presidential administration and their deputies.
* Heads of structural divisions of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and their deputies.
* Commanding officers of the internal affairs agencies and tax police.
* Heads and deputies of territorial divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine (in regions, the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, city, district, inter-district and district departments in cities).
Category three: "Maidan cases"
These are the employees who were involved in the persecution of protesters. Namely:
* Law enforcement officers, civil servants and officials of local government bodies, citizens of Ukraine, whose guilt has been established in causing harm to the life, health, and property of citizens participating in mass protests from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014.
* Law enforcement officers who participated in the detention of participants in civil protests and mass events between February 25, 2010 and February 22, 2014.
* Law enforcement officials who compiled and/or, through their actions or inactions, facilitated the compilation of reports, protocols on administrative offences, reports of suspicion of committing a criminal offence, indictments, etc., in relation to participants in civil protests and mass events during the period from February 25, 2010 to February 21, 2014.
* Investigators of pre-trial investigation bodies, inquiry officers, operational workers, inspectors who carried out investigative and operational actions in relation to participants in civil protests and mass events in the period from February 25, 2010 to February 22, 2014.
* Employees of the prosecutor's office, who exercise procedural guidance, submitted submissions, approvals, supported petitions for the application of measures, supported the state prosecution in court, and committed inaction in relation to participants in civil protests and mass events during the period from February 25, 2010 to February 22, 2014.
* Civil servants and local government officials who, by any action or inaction, attempted to interfere with or hindered the exercise of the constitutional right of citizens of Ukraine to assemble peacefully and hold meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations during the period from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014.
Category four: "separatists, falsifiers, budget embezzlers"
People who publicly called for the split of the country, and other "comrades." Namely:
* Individuals who publicly called for separatism, violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and incited interethnic hatred.
* Persons who collaborated with the intelligence services of other states as secret informants or assistants in the operational acquisition of information (if established by a court order)
* Persons who have made public statements and other public actions that contain signs of racial, social, cultural, religious intolerance towards representatives of the Ukrainian nation and representatives of other nationalities living on the territory of Ukraine (if this is established by a court)
* Chairmen, deputies and secretaries of polling stations who organized the falsification of the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine and the 2012 people's deputies' elections (if this is established by a court).
* Persons who organized and committed actions that resulted in losses to the state budget in the amount of more than one million hryvnias, and to local budgets in the amount of more than fifty thousand hryvnias (if this is established by a court).
* Persons whose actions or inactions have resulted in a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee and other international bodies.
* Judges dismissed for violating their oath.
Category five: "grandfathers"
People who influenced decision-making before August 19, 1991 (a day that is essentially considered the beginning of the end of the Soviet empire). Namely:
* They were elected (appointed) and worked in leadership positions in the Communist Party of the USSR, Ukraine and other union republics.
* People who were members of the Central Committee of the CPSU from the level of the district committee and above.
* People who worked in leadership positions in the Central Committee of the Komsomol, the Central Committee of the Leninist Young Communist League and other union republics, as well as regional committees of the Komsomol, the Leninist Young Communist League and other union republics.
* People who were full-time employees, undercover agents, and leaders in the 5th Directorate of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, the KGB of the USSR, and the KGB of other union republics.
* People who collaborated with the KGB of the USSR, the KGB of the USSR, the KGB of other union republics of the USSR.
* People who graduated from higher educational institutions of the KGB of the USSR (except for technical specialties).
* People who served or collaborated with the intelligence services of other countries as undercover agents or secret staff members.
* People who worked as the head of the political department (directorate) in the USSR Armed Forces, USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.
* People who were involved in organizing the political persecution of participants in the Ukrainian national liberation movement during the Second World War and the post-war period (if this is established by a court order).
Category Six: "Cheaters and Cowards"
These are people who lied in their declarations or refused (or were afraid) to undergo an audit. That is, people who:
* The declaration of property, income, expenses, and financial obligations (including those of close relatives) for the last 3 years has not been verified and/or the sources of income received have not been proven to be legitimate.
* Are persons whose information is entered into the Unified State Register as having committed corruption offenses
* Have citizenship of foreign countries.
* Deliberately provided false information in the written consent to undergo the audit.
* Did not provide consent to undergo testing.
In short, the list of those who are definitely subject to lustration is complete. If you don't see yourself on it, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
However, Viktor Yermolaev is confident that Ukraine will not be able to breathe a sigh of relief anytime soon if the law is passed. Below is the lawyer's summary of his opinion.
"The law is very crude and unfinished. It affects such a huge number of people that implementing it will be not just difficult, but borderline impossible."
Moreover, there will simply be no one to replace this colossal personnel gap.
"Previously, they checked criminal records and declarations. Now there's going to be another fifth column: 'What did you do under Yanukovych?'"
"The wording is open to a wide range of interpretations. Take, for example, "action or inaction." A bad police officer was sitting there filing a report on a good patriotic activist, while a colleague was sitting next to him, working to solve a crime, say, a car theft, but he failed to act on the report—lustration."
Or a civil servant sat there, calmly doing his job, writing some paper about social benefits, and didn't rush into the next office to tear to shreds an unfair court decision banning a rally – lustration.
Even more extreme: "Were you at the Maidan? No? So, by your inaction, you were helping the Yanukovych regime" – lustration.
"One day, an investigator ordered a local police officer to go and question the mother of a certain resident. He went and questioned her. He had no idea what the case was about. But he got a black mark for being there. Because he was conducting an investigation into a protest participant."
"Some clauses require a court decision, while others don't. Why is that? Who will evaluate public statements about separatism? When it's a criminal case, expert assessments are conducted. But what about this? How will the inspectors interpret it?"
What is "social intolerance"? If I start shouting that homeless people stink and need to be removed from the city center, is that tolerable? Or intolerable? Who decides?
"What a curious discrimination against theft from the budget. You can steal 999 hryvnias from the state budget and continue working. But from a local budget, you're already lustrated for 51. Who came up with this idea? Why even specify the amounts of theft? What nonsense is this?"
"Were the points about the Communist Party of the Soviet Union written specifically for Symonenko? How many normal, older people, like district chairmen, could be harmed by him?"
"The whole World War II thing is laughable. These people won't be able to hold any positions due to natural causes."
– Prove the honesty and legality of the great-grandmother and great-granddaughter's income and expenses?! Why is that?
"The indulgence for those mobilized is also excellent. Now we'll wait for an influx of volunteers from government agencies. The bribe-taking prosecutor joined the army—avoided lustration."
"I can only imagine how this law will be received in western Ukraine, where there are plenty of patriots, even among those who worked during the specified period. They'll be shocked."
And what about the district administration chairmen? They're usually business executives who've done everything they could for their districts under any government. But the law doesn't allow them to delve into the subtleties and details. He worked under Yanukovych—lustration.
"As for the inspections themselves, there's still a big blank spot. There are no regulations. But there are regulatory agencies. A whole bunch of them. They'll check whether the inspections are being carried out correctly. They've created another huge bureaucratic machine."
"I really hope Poroshenko doesn't sign this law. It needs some work."
Otherwise, we'll see unprecedented cases of appeals against the consequences of this law in European courts. Because people will be fired simply for working during a specific period of time. This is a mockery of human rights.
We will experience a new, previously unseen wave of corruption: for appropriate amounts of money, appropriate audit findings will be written.
We will see a revival of forgotten genres: settling personal scores through anonymous letters and snitching.
P.S. The law on the cleansing of power has only been approved by members of parliament in its first reading. A second reading and the signature of the Ukrainian president are still pending.
ANTICOR
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