Ukraine’s Plan for the Ukraine Facility: Verkhovna Rada adopts another indicator

At its plenary session on 29 October, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in second reading the draft law on plea bargaining. This is an indicator under Ukraine’s Plan for the implementation of the EU’s Ukraine Facility programme, which aims to strengthen the anti-corruption infrastructure and improve legislation in line with international standards.

“Today, the Parliament voted on an important draft law to implement an indicator of the Ukraine Facility Plan. It will ensure greater efficiency of court decisions in corruption cases, including those against high-ranking officials, and improve the dynamics of sentencing. This will have a positive impact on the business environment and investment. I am very grateful to the MPs for their work. The Ministry of Economy, as the national coordinator of the Plan, provides support to the responsible authorities and will continue to coordinate the implementation of the Ukraine Facility,” said Oleksii Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy.

The Law on improving plea agreements in corruption criminal proceedings is aimed at increasing the efficiency of investigations and speeding up the trial of top corruption cases. It introduces amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine that:

• improve the procedures for plea bargaining;
• abolish the pre-trial investigation period from the moment of registration of criminal proceedings to the notification of suspicion to a person;
• change the sole consideration of individual cases by a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Background

According to the Ukraine Plan, the Ministry of Economy is the national coordinator of the Ukraine Facility. The Ministry ensures the organisation and monitoring of the implementation of the Plan and the preparation of quarterly reports to the European Commission.

More information about the Plan for the Implementation of the Ukraine Facility and the status of the indicators is available here: https://www.ukrainefacility.me.gov.ua/en/ [2]

IC UAC according to the MEU [3]