How does the president understand it?

lawmaking

On Friday, at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on combating organized crime and corruption, the president's bills were discussed, providing for a tougher fight against corruption. Parliamentarians are confident that some of the president’s proposals “require clarification.” Therefore, we can conclude that anti-corruption laws will not be finally adopted by the Rada.

In September 2006, Viktor Yushchenko introduced bills to parliament “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Liability for Corruption Violations,” “On the Fundamentals of Preventing and Combating Corruption,” and “On the Liability of Legal Entities for Corruption Offenses.” The latest draft law proposes to establish liability for giving a bribe not only for individuals, but also for legal entities. The Verkhovna Rada adopted all three documents in the first reading on December 12, 2006.

During the consideration of the presidential initiatives, members of the relevant committee decided that the bills contained “a number of debatable issues.” As noted by the deputy head of the committee, Sergei Mishchenko (BYuT), the proposed additions to the Criminal Code on liability for abuse of power and commercial bribery “must be withdrawn,” since the corresponding sanctions are already provided for in articles ##364, 365 and 368 of the Criminal Code.

As one of the developers of the bills, presidential adviser Nikolai Poludenny, told Kommersant, the amendments mentioned soften the liability for heads of commercial structures. “Representatives of the state should bear greater responsibility for committing crimes with signs of corruption than those who work in the private sector,” says Mr. Poludenny. In his opinion, the removal of these provisions means that sanctions for managers of commercial structures “will remain in the same harsh form as they are now.”

The initiatives of the head of state to introduce liability for legal entities also raised doubts among deputies. According to lawyers who participated in the committee meeting, this could have “negative consequences” for all employees of the company, as well as for its shareholders and founders.

Statements about the debatability of the presidential proposals may mean that the anti-corruption documents will not pass the second parliamentary reading. However, the head of the committee, Nikolai Dzhiga, states that the presidential bills will be considered by the Verkhovna Rada in any case, since they are a consequence of three conventions already ratified by parliament. These are the UN Convention against Corruption, the Criminal Convention against Corruption, as well as its Additional Protocol. “Until these laws are adopted, it will be considered that the conventions are not in effect. They just need to be adapted to national legislation,” Mr. Dzhiga told Kommersant.

DENIS Kommersant-POPOVYCH

Deputies spoke out against corruption