The National Security and Defense Council may be forced to compensate for damages: what do Ukrainian lawyers think about this?
A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for personal liability of members of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine for the adoption of illegal sanctions. Lawyers analyzed bill No. 13311, which provides for personal liability of members of the National Security and Defense Council for illegal sanctions, as well as its prospects in parliament.
Let us recall that this bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada by the European Solidarity faction. According to the document, if the President’s decree on the introduction of sanctions is recognized as illegal, compensation for damages is proposed to be imposed not on the state, but on those who made the relevant decision. The amount of compensation will be determined by the court, taking into account the damage caused and lost income.
Opinion of lawyers
Lawyer, criminal law expert, member of the Committee for the Protection of Guarantees of Advocacy of the Kyiv Region Bar Council Evgeniy Chernalevskyi considers the initiative absolutely positive, emphasizing its focus on personalizing the responsibility of the members of the National Security and Defense Council. However, the idea itself is not unique – similar approaches have already been incorporated into other legislative initiatives, albeit in a slightly different context.
“We can draw an analogy with the law on liability during pre-trial investigation and investigation, as well as with the bill in the Verkhovna Rada on the liability of officials of the State Tax Service for unlawful actions and decisions, in particular during inspections,” he explains.
At the same time, according to Chernalovsky, despite the substantive expediency and potential benefits of the initiative, in the current political and military conditions its chances of implementation remain extremely limited.
It could be effective, but in the current political and military situation, this bill is purely political in nature. There are no prospects for its adoption, so that it would actually work. It is unlikely that it will be possible to collect a sufficient number of votes. However, the fact that such an initiative is being introduced is already good, since the instrument of sanctions against Ukrainian citizens is unconstitutional in itself, because in fact it is a way of extrajudicial deprivation of a person of property rights, without a court decision,” Chernalovsky believes.
Lawyer Elena Donenko also believes that the sanctions mechanism, which was originally planned as an exceptional tool for special cases, is currently being used in a distorted manner.
“The initiative itself is absolutely correct. We cannot blame the state as a whole for imposing sanctions against Ukrainian citizens if these decisions are made by specific officials. And then also oblige the entire country, that is, its citizens, to pay compensation for the actions of these people. This is unfair. Responsibility should be borne by those who make the decision. Collective responsibility does not work in a state governed by the rule of law,” Donenko notes.
Sanctions system: what’s wrong
According to the official website of the National Security and Defense Council, there are currently 1,594 Ukrainian citizens under Ukrainian sanctions. And only for seven of them have these restrictions been lifted. In each of these cases, it was formally stated that “the period of application has expired,” but the details remain unknown.
The process of appealing sanctions appears no less opaque. According to lawyers, the Supreme Court considers such cases every half hour, but the procedure itself is complex and confusing. At the same time, the circle of those who seek to lift the restrictions is constantly growing. Against this background, European Solidarity proposes to clearly establish the personal responsibility of the members of the National Security and Defense Council, in particular, for decisions that are later recognized as illegal.
Reaction of officials
The current members of the National Security and Defense Council are silent. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko refused to comment on the initiative, as did former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov. Former head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov made harsh criticism.
He stated that the EU is trying to use the Verkhovna Rada as a platform to put pressure on the government in order to resolve the problem of sanctions against Poroshenko himself.
“This is an attempt at political maneuvering. After all, it was Poroshenko who signed the current law on sanctions in 2014. Now that this mechanism has been used against him, he no longer likes it,” Bakanov said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that the system needs to be changed, not for political expediency, but because of the need for transparency and legal certainty.
Former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Danylyuk supported the initiative. According to him, collegial authorities often make decisions irresponsibly – and this is one of the key problems of the Ukrainian governance system, which dates back to Soviet times.
What’s next?
For now, the bill remains just an initiative. But it has already managed to divide the political class and lawyers. Some consider it a tool to fight corruption and injustice. Others – a way to put pressure on political opponents.
However, one thing is clear: the very practice of applying sanctions against Ukrainian citizens requires a serious reassessment. And the issue of personal responsibility of officials for a decision with serious consequences no longer seems far-fetched.
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