They want to put the investigation of top officials under manual control: official statement from NABU and SAPO

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have issued an official statement regarding draft law No. 12414 , which is being prepared for the second reading in the Verkhovna Rada. The anti-corruption bodies warn that the latest amendments to the document pose a serious threat to the independence of their activities.

According to the updated provisions of the draft law, key powers are transferred to the Prosecutor General, which actually concentrates full control over the cases of the NABU and the SAPO in his hands.

In particular, it is envisaged that the Prosecutor General:

– will have access to all materials investigated by NABU, or will be able to delegate this access to other prosecutors;
– will receive the right to issue mandatory written instructions to NABU detectives;
– will be able to change the jurisdiction of cases and transfer them to other bodies in case of “disobedience”;
– will receive the authority to close the proceedings at the request of the defense party;
– will single-handedly resolve disputes regarding liability;
– he will himself sign suspicions in the cases of top officials;
– will determine the composition of the group of prosecutors, excluding the head of the SAPO from this process.

“In fact, this means a complete loss of the independence of NABU and SAPO and a return to a model where anti-corruption investigations are fully controlled by the political leadership,” the statement says.

According to such changes, the head of the SAPO is effectively deprived of real powers. His role is reduced to a decorative one, while the NABU risks turning into a structural unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

“This bill may erase all the achievements made in the anti-corruption sphere over the past nine years. The system formed since 2015, which is recognized by Ukraine’s international partners, is under threat of dismantling,” NABU and SAPO warn.

Anti-corruption bodies are urging MPs not to support these amendments, as their adoption could spell the end of independent justice in cases of top corruption.

As a reminder, the Verkhovna Rada plans to adopt an amendment that will actually subordinate NABU to the Prosecutor General and allow its cases to be transferred to other bodies during martial law.

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