Source: http://www.manual.declarations.com.ua/?page_id=426
Timestamp: 2020-08-10 11:41:16
Document Index: 88185721

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 521', 'Art. 521', 'Art. 50', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 14', 'Art. 216']

Declarations. Manual. Chapter 2 – Інструкція-мануал з аналізу декларацій
Сайт “Декларації”
База “Рінг”
№1. Why analyze declarations
№2 What are declarations?
№3 Modern electronic declarations and their analysis
2.1. The difference between paper and electronic declarations
2.2. Who submits declarations. Responsible position. Positions with corruption risk
2.3. Types of declarations and periods of their submission
2.4. Liability for violation of declaration requirements
2.5. Legal practice after the violation. Templates of appeals to NACP and NABU
3.1. What is indicated in electronic declarations and what are the thresholds for declaring
3.2. Common mistakes when filling out declarations
3.3. Mechanism of analysis of declarations
3.4. Common mistakes in the analysis of declarations
2. What are declarations?
Declarations of officials in Ukraine are regulated by the Law on Prevention of Corruption. At the same time, no normative legal act clearly defines what a declaration is. So, just in case, now, the declaration is an electronic document in which an official reports on their income, real estate, savings, significant expenses, loans, cars, and jewelry, both their own and of their family members. The full list of information to be indicated in the declaration is stipulated by Article 46 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption.
The history of declaring by civil servants in Ukraine dates back to the 1990s. Officials were required to report their revenues annually by the Law on Civil Service in 1993. The form of the first declarations was approved only in 1997. Furthermore, for almost two decades, these documents existed in paper form and were submitted at the place of work of the declarant.
At first, they were not public, then they were published on the official websites of departments (often in inconspicuous sections, away from the public eye). It was also common practice to delete and replace new declarations every year. To get the whole package of documents for all the years, you had to write requests.
Both the requirements for declaration and the form of documents were imperfect back then. Officials found loopholes to avoid declaring. Some property did not need to be entered at all. In paper declarations, some wrote the area of the property in full, others declared only their share. Some declared each item separately, others wrote their total area. Therefore, sometimes it was impossible to understand these data at all.
After all, there was no responsibility for lying in the declarations, so there was nothing to prevent officials from providing false information.
In 2016, the Unified State Register of Declarations of Persons Authorized to Perform State and Local Self-Government Functions became fully operational in Ukraine. Since then, officials report electronically and are liable for both false declarations and non-filing. The list of assets to be declared has been expanded and the requirements for filing declarations have been standardized.
You can see the difference between paper and electronic declarations in the comparison table.
Paper declaration form
Electronic declaration form
The names of the family members were filled in at their own discretion. Sometimes it was just a last name and initials, which made identification difficult. Sometimes information about relatives was completely hidden during the publication/provision of the declaration upon request. Sometimes even information about the property of relatives was omitted.
The full names of relatives and the property registered in their name are to be specified. The classified part of the register (available only to NACP) contains personal data: passport numbers, birth certificates, taxpayers’ ID numbers.
The data on the area (full ownership or shared, each item separately or the total) was filled in at their own discretion. Sometimes there was not enough space to enter all the property. The value was declared if the purchase took place in the reporting year and was made in the declarant’s name and in a family member’s. Therefore, it became popular to buy property to your own name but in your relatives’. During the publication of declarations, even the names of settlements were sometimes hidden from the addresses.
Each item of real estate is declared separately and its total area, date of acquisition, lease, or use is indicated. Its value on the date of acquisition is also indicated, regardless of whether it is the property of the declarant or a family member. Not just owned property is declared but used too. If the property is jointly owned, information about all its co-owners is indicated. The country and the settlement are made public in the address of the real estate.
Items of unfinished construction
Were not subject to declaring. Therefore, there was a scheme of postponing building turnover to avoid declaration and indication in the register of real estate.
All unfinished construction items are to be declared.
Valuable movable property
Was not subject to declaring.
Valuables in ownership or use are declared: jewelry, clothing, art collections, etc.
Only the value of vehicles purchased/rented in the reporting year by the declarant themself was indicated, if it exceeded UAH 150 thousand, from 2014 the threshold was UAH 80 thousand.
All vehicles owned, rented or used by the declarant or family are declared. Their cost and date of purchase are indicated.
Only the nominal value of securities was declared, as well as the value of securities purchased in the reporting year if it exceeded first UAH 150,000 and then UAH 80,000. Information about the issuer of securities was required to be declared in 2013, but there was no place for this in the form.
It is required to indicate the quantity and value of securities, the date of their acquisition, information about the issuer of securities, and if they were transferred into the management of another person, the information about the manager.
Only the amount of contributions to the authorized capital of companies was declared, if it first exceeded 150 thousand, then 80 thousand UAH. Information about the companies themselves was not required at first. Then this requirement was added, but no space was provided for this.
In addition to the amount of contributions to the authorized capital, information about the companies themselves is indicated: their organizational form, full names, and USREOU codes.
Legal entities whose ultimate beneficial owner is the declarant or members of their family
Were not subject to declaring.
Information on Ukrainian and foreign companies owned more than 25% of which are owned by the declarant or their family member is to be indicated, as well as legal entities that they actually control through other companies.
Information on intellectual property rights for inventions, utility models, know-how, trademarks, trade names, and copyrights, as well as rights to use subsoil or other natural resources is to be declared.
Only the amounts of income, their own and of their family members, in Ukraine and abroad by certain categories, had to be indicated, but not their sources.
In addition to the type and amount of income, its source is also to be indicated.
Only the amounts of bank deposits of the declarant and family members had to be indicated, as well as the amount of funds deposited in the reporting year by the declarant, if it exceeded first UAH 150,000 and then UAH 80,000. The names of banking institutions were added to the requirements of 2013, but no place for them was provided in the declaration form.
In addition to bank deposits, officials must indicate cash savings, assets in precious metals, and funds borrowed from third parties. In addition to the amounts and types of savings, the names of financial institutions or the names of lenders are also indicated.
Only the amounts of their payments on loans and credits in the reporting year were indicated, without the total amount of financial liabilities. There was no requirement to indicate creditors in declarations until 2013, then it was added, but no space was provided.
The amount of funds paid in the reporting year is to be indicated, as well as the amount of the main part of the financial liability and its balance at the end of the reporting year, and the information about the institutions or people in whose benefit these financial obligations arose.
Expenses and transactions
The declarants indicated expenses on voluntary insurance, private pensions, and maintenance of the property specified in the declaration. Until 2013 upwards from UAH 150,000, later from UAH 80,000.
All expenses that exceed 50 subsistence minimums are to be indicated (for details on the declaration thresholds, refer to section 3.1.), as well as the information about the transactions themselves: acquisition or termination of ownership or use of property, opening or closing bank accounts, obtaining loans, etc.
Wasn’t subject to declaring.
The organization and their position at the organization or part-time job that began or continued during the reporting year have to be indicated, regardless of the duration and whether it was paid.
Membership in organizations and bodies
Regular membership or membership in governing, auditing, or supervisory bodies in public, charitable or professional associations and organizations is to be declared.
Warning! This list is based on the legislation as of March 10, 2020. Due to the inclinations of legislature towards amending the regulatory framework, in particular, adoption of this bill during the preparation of the manual, we recommend checking the actual list of declarants in the Law on Prevention of Corruption and in NACP’s clarifications.
According to the Law, declarations must be submitted by persons authorized to perform the functions of the state and local self-government:
the President, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, other heads of central executive bodies, as well as their deputies;
the Chairman of the Parliament and his deputies, people’s deputies of Ukraine, deputies of local councils, village, settlement, city mayors, chairman and deputies of the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General, officials of the prosecutor’s office and the Security Service of Ukraine, senior staff, officials of the State Bureau of Investigations, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau;
the Head and Deputy Heads of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention;
the Head, Deputy Heads of the National Bank, members of the Council of the National Bank, the Chairman and members of the Accounting Chamber, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language;
members of the Central Election Commission
military officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, other military formations (except for conscripts, cadets of higher military educational institutions, cadets of higher educational institutions that include military institutes, cadets of military training departments);
judges, Chairman, Deputy Chairman, members, and inspectors of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, officials of the secretariats of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges, officials of the State Judicial Administration, jurors (during their duties in court);
rank-and-file members and senior staff of the State Penitentiary Service, tax police, senior staff of civil defense bodies and subdivisions;
officials of the diplomatic service, state forest protection, state protection of nature reserves, fiscal and customs services;
civil servants, officials of other state bodies, local self-government;
members of state collegial bodies;
the head of the Presidential Office, his deputies, assistant judges, as well as representatives of patronage services (staff advisers, assistants, commissioners, and press secretary of the President, employees of the secretariats of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and his deputies, parliamentary factions and groups, assistants-consultants of MPs, employees of patronage services of members of the government and other state bodies), except for persons who perform their duties on a voluntary basis;
Declaring is also mandatory for persons who are equated with those authorized to perform the functions of state or local self-government:
– officials of state and municipal enterprises/educational institutions, members of the supervisory boards of state banks, enterprises or for-profit organizations, business associations that are at least 50% owned by the state;
– representatives of public associations, scientific institutions, educational institutions, experts of relevant qualifications, other persons who are members of competition and disciplinary commissions at public authorities or local governments (except for non-resident foreigners who are members of such commissions), Public Integrity Council;
– candidates for the positions of President, people deputy, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Oblast, Rayon, City, District in cities, Village, Settlement councils, candidates for the positions of village, settlement, city mayors and starostas.
Not required to submit declarations are notaries, members of the precinct, district, and territorial election commissions (as opposed to CEC members), non-resident foreigners who are members of supervisory boards of state bodies, and pro-bono employees of the patronage service.
In practice, certain categories of officials avoid public declaration. The State Register of Electronic Declarations was ignored from the start by the Security Service of Ukraine. The SBU stated that it had created a separate internal system for the declarations of its employees and classified all their declarations as state secrets (before that, scans of their superiors’ paper declarations were published on the SBU’s website). According to the intelligence service, the declarations of all its employees are stored on computers in a sealed room of the SBU. Even NACP employees could not check them, as none of them has access to state secrets.
The SBU’s refusal was justified by Art. 521 of the Law “On Prevention of Corruption”. It provides a special form of financial control for persons engaged in operational and investigative, counterintelligence and intelligence activities. Their declarations must be submitted in a way that makes it impossible to disclose their place of work. But in addition to these employees, the SBU classified the declarations of its leadership, heads of departments, and administrative employees.
The situation with the SBU’s declarations changed somewhat only in October 2019, after amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption. The Art. 521 explicitly stated that the declarations of officials appointed and dismissed by the President and the Verkhovna Rada did not constitute a state secret. After that, declarations of individual employees of the Security Service of Ukraine began to appear in the state register.
A similar situation occurred with the declarations of military prosecutors. In the spring of 2017, the then Chief Military Prosecutor issued a resolution ordering NACP to remove from public access the declarations of its subordinates and their close relatives. Allegedly, they were hunted by representatives of terrorist organizations of the so-called DNR and LNR. After that, about 200 documents from previous years disappeared from the system. For the next two years, military prosecutors filed declarations with the NACP register but did not make them public. They were declassified only in September 2019, when the newly appointed Chief Military Prosecutor overturned the decision of his predecessor.
For several years, there was a legal conflict with the staff of the Presidential Administration. As part of the changes enacted to the legislation on the civil service in the period of 2015-2019, they were stripped of the status of civil servants, so they were not subject to the mandatory declaring. During this period, the leadership of the Presidential Administration submitted declarations at its own discretion, and it was impossible to prosecute them for false declarations.
The requirement to declare for the heads of the now Presidential Office returned into law only at the end of 2019. As the law has no retroactive effect, the reporting period for them came from January 1, 2020, i.e. they will submit their declarations only in 2021.
Depending on whether the post of the official has a high risk of corruption or a responsible position, the list of property to declare may change. Thus, officials holding a responsible or a particularly responsible position must additionally indicate in the annual declaration the information on property belonging to other persons, if this official or a member of their family is entitled to receive income from such an item, or can manage it. In addition, these persons are required to report significant changes in their wealth (this obligation does not apply to other declarants), and their declarations are subject to mandatory full verification.
The details of what they need to declare at such positions are given in paragraph 3.1 of the manual. Below, we will list the positions which it concerns.
The President, the Prime Minister, Ministers and their Deputies, People’s Deputies, Advisers and Assistants to the President, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and the Prime Minister, the Permanent Representative of the President to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, his deputies
Head of the Presidential Office, his deputies
Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Prosecutor General, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Chairman of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, deputies of all listed officials
Members of the Antimonopoly Committee, the Central Election Commission, the National Council on TV and Radio Broadcasting, the National Commission on Financial Services Markets, the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, the National Commission on State Language Standards, members and inspectors of the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges
Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the State Property Fund, the State Committee for TV and Radio Broadcasting, the National Bank, members of the NBU Council, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the State Language Commissioner, heads, deputy heads of state bodies, their staffs and independent structural subdivisions
Heads of structural subdivisions as a part of independent structural subdivisions of the central office of the National Bank, their deputies
Judges, prosecutors, and investigators, senior military officials
Civil servants, whose positions are determined by the structure of state bodies of all-Ukrainian jurisdiction, in case of the inexpediency of formation of structural subdivisions
Chief of Staff of the Verkhovna Rada and his deputies, Chief of Staff of the President’s Office, State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers and his deputies, state secretaries of ministries, heads and deputy chiefs of staff of the Constitutional, Supreme and higher specialized courts, heads of secretariats of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, head of the State Judicial Administration and his deputies, heads of civil service in other state bodies and their deputies, heads and deputy heads of structural subdivisions of state bodies, heads and their deputies in other central executive bodies
Heads and deputy heads of independent structural subdivisions of territorial departments of the State Judicial Administration
City mayors (up to and including Oblast centers) and some of their deputies, chairmen of Oblast councils and their deputies, managers of executive offices of Oblast and Sevastopol city councils, secretaries of city councils (Oblast centers, Kyiv, Simferopol), chairmen of Raion and city District councils
Deputy mayors, village and settlement mayors, chairmen of Raion and city District councils, secretaries of city, village, settlement councils, heads of executive committees of city councils, chairmen of standing commissions on budgets of Oblast, Kyiv, and Sevastopol city councils
Heads of state enterprises, institutions, organizations, other state-owned economic entities, their deputies
Source: the list approved by NACP note to Art. 50 of the Law “On Prevention of Corruption”, Art. 6 of the Law “On Civil Service”, Art. 14 of the Law “On Service in Local Self-Government Bodies”
Warning! This list is based on the legislation as of March 10, 2020.
There are four main types of declarations (candidate, annual, before dismissal, after dismissal), one intermediate form of financial control (declaration of significant changes in wealth) and the ability, and sometimes the obligation, to file a corrected version of the declaration.
Declaration of the candidate for the position
Filed before the appointment or election of a person to the office. Covers the period from January 1 to December 31 of the previous year, the information is as of December 31. Such declarations do not have to be submitted only by persons applying for membership in the Public Integrity Council or in competition and disciplinary commissions at state or local government bodies. If elected within 10 working days, they submit only annual declarations for the previous year.
Filed by April 1 of the year following the reporting year. For example, by April 1, 2020, officials must file declarations for 2019. They cover the period from January 1 to December 31 of the reporting year, and the information is indicated as of December 31.
Exceptions are only military servicemen who did not have the opportunity to file a declaration before April 1, as they took part in hostilities (in the area of the anti-terrorist operation, on the territory of other states as part of national peacekeeping troops, etc.). They are allowed to submit annual declarations within 90 calendar days after returning to the place of service or its end.
Annual declarations are submitted regardless of how many days during the year a person held the relevant position. That is, even if they took the oath of a civil servant on December 29, 2019, they must still file a declaration for the whole of 2019 by April 1, 2020.
Warning! Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Parliament voted that in 2020, the deadline for filing annual declarations has been postponed to June 1.
Before dismissal declaration
Despite its name, in fact, it is submitted after dismissal, within 20 working days from the date of termination. The declaration is submitted for a period not covered by previous declarations. That is, usually from the beginning of the year to the date of dismissal. The information in it is indicated as of the last day of this period.
After dismissal declaration
Filed by April 1 of the year following dismissal and covers the period from January 1 to December 31 of the reporting year. The information is indicated as of December 31.
When filling in the section on the place of service and position, the declarant is required by law to indicate the post from which he resigned, and not his new job or “unemployed”, as is often the case in practice.
Declaration of significant change in wealth
This is an interim form of financial control. If the declarant has a change in assets, such as received income, acquired property, or made an expenditure for a certain amount, he must notify of that within 10 days.
Before October 2019, the law required all applicants to submit change forms. From October 18, 2019, this requirement applies only to those whose positions are categorized as a responsible position or having corruption risks (their list is in section 2.2 of the manual).
For declarations of significant changes for 2015 and 2016, it was necessary to declare expenses and income that exceed 50 minimum salaries as of January 1 of the reporting year.
Minimum salary as of January 1, UAH.
Threshold for declaring
(50 minimum salaries), UAH.
Since 2017, officials must declare significant changes in wealth in excess of 50 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons (not salaries!) as of January 1 of the reporting year.
Subsistence minimum as of January 1, UAH
(50 subsistence minimums), UAH.
Within seven days after the submission of the declaration, the official has the right to submit a corrected declaration, but not more than three times. After the expiration of the seven-day period, the register will automatically close this opportunity, and in case of detection of errors, the declarant will have to contact NACP through their user account and describe the inaccuracies in detail. In this case, changes will be made to the register only after NACP has fully verified their declaration.
If the declarant is prosecuted for failure to submit or late submission of the declaration or for providing false information, they are obliged to submit the relevant declaration with the correct data. This is what happened to Pavel Ryabikin, the Director-General of Boryspil airport. For more than two years, NACP conducted a full inspection of his declaration for 2016 and found that Ryabikin did not indicate almost UAH 11 million worth of property. At the end of 2019, the official had to submit a corrected declaration for 2016. By the way, it is not visible in the “body” of the declaration, only in the description on the main page of the register of declarations.
Violation of the declaration requirements is subject to criminal, administrative, and disciplinary liability depending on the amount hidden by the declarant.
Criminal liability for declaring knowingly false information can occur only if the real property of the declarant differs in value from what was declared by more than 250 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons.
As of April 1, 2020, for the onset of criminal liability, the undeclared difference must be at least UAH 525,500. (attention, this amount will change since July 2020).
Subsistence minimum, UAH
Criminal liability onset threshold, UAH
01 Jan 2020 – 30 June 2020
01 July 20 – 30 Nov 2020
01 Dec 20 – 31 Dec 2020
If the declarant’s guilt is proven, they may face punishment from a fine and up to two years in prison (Article 3661 of the Criminal Code “Declaration of false information”). Namely:
a) a fine of 2,500 to 3,000 non-taxable minimum incomes (warning, this is another minimum) 1 non-taxable minimum income = 17 UAH as of 01 April 2020;
b) community service for a period of 150 to 240 hours;
c) imprisonment for up to 2 years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.
It is worth noting that the most difficult thing to prove is intent and declaration of knowingly false information.
Article 3685 of the Criminal Code “Illegal Enrichment” is also related to the analysis of declarations. Illegal enrichment is the acquisition by the declarant of assets which value exceeds their legal income by 6,500 non-taxable minimum incomes. Warning! To qualify offenses 1 non-taxable minimum income = 50% of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as of January 1.
Thus, in 2020, illegal enrichment includes the acquisition of assets worth upwards from UAH 6,831,500.
Illegal enrichment is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 10 years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.
Administrative liability for the submission of knowingly false information in the electronic declaration is provided if the value of the real property of the declarant differs from the declared amount by 100-250 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons. That is, if the declarant did not indicate the property worth from 210,200 to 525,500 UAH (as of 01 April 2020).
The Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (Article 172–6 “Violation of the requirements of financial control”) provides for different amounts of fines depending on the nature of the violation:
Untimely submission of a declaration without valid reasons may lead to a fine of 50 to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes (UAH 850-1,700).
Failure to notify or untimely notification of opening a foreign currency account in a non-resident bank or of significant changes in property status may lead to a fine of 100 to 200 non-taxable minimum incomes (UAH 1,700-3,400).
The above actions committed repeatedly during the year may lead to a fine of 100 to 300 non-taxable minimum incomes (UAH 1,700-5,100) with confiscation of income or remuneration, and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for 1 year.
Lies in the declaration (submission of knowingly false information) in the amount of 100-250 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons may lead to a fine of 1,000 to 2,500 non-taxable minimum incomes (UAH 17,000-42,500).
Warning! Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Parliament voted that in 2020, declarants are exempt from liability for untimely submission of declarations (particularly about the changes in wealth) if the delay was caused by the quarantine measures.
Disciplinary liability is provided if a person has committed a corruption offense, but the court has not deprived them of the right to hold certain positions or engage in activities related to the performance of state or local government functions.
In this case, upon the request of an authorized law enforcement body or the order of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the head of the body where the person works shall appoint an official investigation in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Then, the HR service of this body shall submit to NACP a certified paper copy of the order imposing a disciplinary sanction. Thus, within 3 working days from the date of receipt, this information is entered into the Unified State Register of Persons Who Have Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses. (Article 59 of the Law “On Prevention of Corruption”).
If, as a public activist or journalist, you have identified declaration-related violations and want to give the case a go, your next step is to apply to the appropriate authorities. In order to do this:
Gather proof of the violation.
Take extracts from the register of real estate, the car register, cadastral map, court decisions, register of companies and joint-stock companies, etc. To confirm the use of undeclared property, collect photo or video evidence, testimonies, etc., the more the better.
Remember that data on the item of declaration, which was in the possession or use of the declarant or members of their family, must be indicated in the declaration if such object was in the possession or use as of the last day of the reporting period or for at least half the days during the reporting period.
To analyze the value of the undeclared property, research the prices in relevant sources, if possible, add the testimony of valuation experts or realtors. The evidence attached to the application significantly increases the chances that the National Agency for Corruption Prevention or law enforcement agencies will launch an inspection or an investigation.
Draw up a statement.
It is important to draw up a statement correctly, clearly state all the facts of violations and make references to regulations
We recommend using our statement templates: NAPC or NABU
Lawyers of the Tysny project (part of Bihus.Info) or lawyers of the all-Ukrainian platform “The Point People” can help you with the creation of statements also.
Choose which agency to send the statement (investigative jurisdiction).
If the evidence you have collected falls under administrative liability, you should contact the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) with a request to verify the electronic declarations of the official and draw up a report on an administrative offense, or to the National Police of Ukraine.
NACP website has a separate Report Corruption menu, which describes the contacts and requirements for such statements. Also on the agency’s website, in the section “NACP meetings“, you can find decisions on the results of the verification of declarations and find out whether NACP inspected the person in your statement.
Of course, you can also contact NACP if a criminal offense is detected, but it should be understood that NACP does not have the authority to initiate an investigation, it can only verify the declaration and send the materials to law enforcement.
If the evidence you have collected suggests criminal liability, you should send a statement to the investigating authority. Here, it is important to correctly determine the jurisdiction and send the statement to the very structure that investigates cases against this particular declarant. The jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies is determined by Art. 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Statements of criminal offenses on the basis of declarations must be registered and investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the National Police of Ukraine (NPU) depending on the category of the declarant in question.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau investigates cases under the articles “Declaration of false information” and “Illegal enrichment”, which include:
the former president,
advisers and assistants to the current head of state, the president’s representative in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and his deputies,
the Prime Minister, his advisers, and aides, ministers and their deputies,
People’s Deputies, advisers and assistants to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, deputies of Oblast councils, Kyiv and Sevastopol City Councils, a number of local government officials,
judges (except for the High Anti-Corruption Court), the leadership of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges,
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and his deputies,
the Prosecutor General and his deputies, the leadership and prosecutors of the subdivisions of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the leadership and prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the heads of the Oblast prosecutor’s offices and their subdivisions,
leadership/members of a number of other bodies (Anti-Monopoly Committee, State Property Fund, Central Election Commission, National Bank and NBU Council, National Council on TV and Radio Broadcasting, National Commission on Financial Services, National Commission on Securities and Stock Market, Penitentiary Service, National Police, tax and customs services, large state-owned and municipal enterprises),
head of NACP and his deputies
civil servants of category “A” (defined in Article 6 of the Law “On Civil Service”, this includes, for example, the leadership of the apparatus of the Presidential Office, but… does not include the leadership of the PO itself),
senior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, the National Guard, and other military forces.
In addition, NABU’s jurisdiction extends over cases of declaration of false information and illegal enrichment of other officials of the state, law enforcement, local government, military, state, and municipal enterprise, if the size of the object of the crime is 500 times or larger than the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, valid at the time of the crime.
For example, if the crime was committed on 01 April 2020, then NABU is responsible for all cases when the declarant hid property or received illegal income of more than 1,051,000 UAH.
For a more detailed list of people under NABU’s investigative jurisdiction, see the infographic on the bureau’s website.
The State Bureau of Investigation investigates cases under the articles “Declaration of false information” and “Illegal enrichment”, if they concern the director of NABU, his deputies, judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court, the Commissioner for Human Rights. The SBI’s investigative jurisdiction is described in more detail in the infographic on the bureau’s website.
The National Police of Ukraine investigates other cases concerning declarations, which according to the position of the declarant and the size of the object of the crime do not fall under the jurisdiction of NABU or the SBI. In particular, after the amendments to the legislation, the leadership of the Presidential Office of Ukraine fell under police jurisdiction (legislators have already proposed to refer it to the SBI, but at the time of preparation of the manual these changes have not been accepted).
Warning! This list is formed on the basis of the laws in force as of March 10, 2020. We recommend checking the relevance of the data in the Criminal Procedure Code.
Lawyers and journalists of Bihus.Info have a number of successful cases with appeals to the authorities with materials about the declaration of false information.
For example. In May 2017, the journalists of Bihus.Info discovered and proved that the then head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, which is responsible for checking the declarations of officials, did not declare a new car herself. The video investigation showed that the then head of the NACP and her husband used an undeclared car, which upon purchase was registered for the official’s mother-in-law, who doesn’t even have a driver’s license. In addition, journalists recorded the confession of the official and her husband of the fact of financial participation in the purchase of the car, although the then head of the NACP also did not declare these expenses.
After the investigation was published, the lawyers of the Tysny project (Bihus.Info) filed a statement to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. The investigation lasted 2.5 years. NABU investigators collected evidence of the use of the car on the last day of the reporting year by the then head of the NACP. And in November 2019, NABU notified her of the suspicion and sent the case to court, the trial began in early 2020.
In November 2018, journalists of Bihus.Info published an article stating that the then MP and part-time head of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts did not declare a luxurious estate and luxury cars he constantly uses.
Lawyers of the project Tysny submitted an appeal to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention to verify the declarations of the People’s Deputy. In June 2019, the NACP began an inspection. And in August 2019, the media reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau had opened criminal proceedings for not declaring the property.
Another example concerns the legal support of materials published by a third party. Lawyers of the project Tysny managed to use them for an administrative report to be made. According to activists of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, the director of the state enterprise Energostal, in violation of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, did not inform the NACP about the purchase of a car. The lawyers of Tysny (Bihus.Info) informed the NACP about the possible violation of the law, the agency carried out its own inspection, confirmed the violation and submitted the administrative report to the court.
Розробка текстових матеріалів посібника стала можливою завдяки підтримці програми #USAID_ВзаємоДія в рамках проекту «Декларації IV: Нова надія», який реалізується ГО «Канцелярська Сотня». Цей Проект став можливим завдяки Агентству Сполучених Штатів з міжнародного розвитку та щедрій підтримці американського народу. Окремі думки, висловлені у цьому матеріалі, є відповідальністю авторів і необов’язково відображають погляди Агентства USAID або Уряду США.