President Zelensky submits to Ukrainian Parliament draft bill on 'illegal acquisition of wealth'
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted the bill on the punishment for unlawful acquisition of wealth by government officials to the Verkhovna Rada, reports the President’s press service.
The bill of the Ukrainian President provids for confiscation of the illegally acquired assets and restoration of criminal punishment for illegal enrichment. The text of the document has not been published yet.
In February, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the section of the Criminal Code on illicit enrichment as unconstitutional.
In February, the Ukrainian Constitutional Court removed the section of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on illegal enrichment. The judges explained their decision by the fact that this article violates the principle of presumption of innocence and inadmissibility of holding a person to an account "for refusing to give testimony or explanations concerning themselves, family members or close relatives."
The decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine was heavily criticized by the experts of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI) and the international organization Transparency International (TI). In the Corruption Perception Index published annually by TI, Ukraine climbed by ten positions and took the 120th place in the ranking, gaining 32 points out of 100.