Vladimir Zelensky signed a normative act bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with previously adopted constitutional amendments. It is about the abolition of parliamentary immunity.

The document notes that "in order to ensure compliance with guarantees of deputy activity" the law defines a special procedure for pre-trial investigation, detention and choice of preventive measure against elected representatives.

Recall that in September, Vladimir Zelensky signed a regulatory act amending the basic law of the country. The innovations affected article 80 of the constitution, from which the clause was stated that the elected representatives were “guaranteed parliamentary immunity”, as well as the provision prohibiting criminal prosecution of people's deputies without the corresponding consent of the Verkhovna Rada.

The new version of the constitution only says that the deputies “do not bear legal responsibility for the results of voting or statements in the parliament and its bodies”, with the exception of liability for insult or slander.

The amendments enter into force on January 1, 2020.

The only "insurance" that should now protect members of parliament from pressure after the abolition of parliamentary immunity is the mandatory participation of the country's prosecutor general in trials against deputies.

From now on, the detention, search, interception of correspondence and telephone conversations and the arrest of a deputy of the Rada is possible only with the consent of the Prosecutor General or the person performing his duties. The law says that without the sanction of the prosecutor general and the permission of the investigating judge, it is allowed to detain the people's deputy if the latter was "caught during the commission or immediately after the commission of a grave or especially grave crime."

Ukrainian dream

Recall that the institution of parliamentary immunity, operating in many countries, is designed to protect parliamentarians from pressure by fabricating criminal cases and to ensure the independence of the legislative branch of government. In addition, immunity protects people's representatives from prosecution for expressing a position on certain issues.

At the same time, impunity for parliamentarians is not guaranteed if the people elected really violated the law. In this case, the issue of removal of immunity from a deputy is decided by voting in parliament.

However, Ukrainian society since the republic gained independence has opposed the institution of parliamentary immunity.

In 1999, the head of state - then Leonid Kuchma held this post - even initiated the collection of signatures in support of the referendum on a number of issues, including the abolition of parliamentary immunity. Over 4 million citizens voted for the initiative, and in 2000 a plebiscite was held. It was attended by over 28 million Ukrainians, or 81.15% of the total number of citizens eligible to vote. The vast majority of voters supported the reform.

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However, in practice, the initiative was never implemented.

Kuchma’s successor, Viktor Yushchenko, also addressed the issue of canceling parliamentary immunity. In 2009, he declared that it was necessary to do this so that “a person, an official, a deputy, a minister were equal before the law.”

Petro Poroshenko did not ignore this topic. In 2017, he introduced the corresponding bill in the Rada. The parliament adjusted some wordings of the document and sent it to the Constitutional Court, which recognized the initiative in accordance with the basic law of Ukraine. However, Petro Poroshenko did not have time to chalk up the cancellation of parliamentary immunity: the law was not adopted before the presidential election of 2019.

This case was continued by Vladimir Zelensky - namely, the abolition of parliamentary immunity was one of the key election promises of the politician.

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Speaking at the beginning of September in the Rada, Zelensky called on parliamentarians to fulfill the promise that politicians have given the population for years and to cancel their own immunity.

“I am turning now to all the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: just do what you promised for many years to people, ordinary Ukrainians. Removing immunity is now required by 90% of Ukrainian citizens, ”Zelensky said.

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, explained in an interview with RT, such sentiments in Ukrainian society are connected with the fact that most citizens perceive the Rada as a meeting of corrupt officials, and the abolition of parliamentary immunity as a way to fight corruption.

“By canceling the immunity, the president thereby meets the people, and at the same time, solves his own problems, receiving a mechanism of influence on the parliamentary opposition,” said Shapovalov.

According to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Freedom of Speech, a member of the faction of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Nestor Shufrych, parliamentary immunity has not been canceled until recently only because the country had a more responsible government, which understood that this step was contrary to democratic principles.

“Ukrainians do not understand this now, but in the near future they will realize that the people's deputies, who previously defended their interests, will look back because of the instinct of self-preservation and concern for their families. Unfortunately, the prosecution of the opposition is often implemented through pressure on relatives, ”Shufrich said in an interview with RT.

Recall that in early September, the Ukrainian parliament supported in the first reading the abolition of parliamentary immunity and the introduction of relevant amendments to the constitution. 373 deputies voted for this initiative with the required 300 votes. Faction of the party “Opposition Platform - For Life” abstained from voting. This political force believes that immunity should be lifted not only for lawmakers, but also for representatives of the executive branch, including the president.

Moreover, the control of the prosecutor general over cases against people's deputies is introduced at the initiative of the Rada committee on law enforcement. This amendment caused dissatisfaction on the part of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Corruption, in which it was decided that it only complicates the procedure for criminal prosecution of deputies.

The same position was taken by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, which even called on the president to veto the bill. In their opinion, the procedure under which a criminal investigation against deputies will have to be agreed on a mandatory basis with the prosecutor general can paralyze the course of the investigation. However, all this did not affect the adoption of the bill.

“Far-reaching consequences”

It should be noted that the president is the candidate for the post of general prosecutor in Ukraine. Now the department is headed by Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who previously worked in the Zelensky team.

“Now the position of the president and his administration has been disproportionately strengthened, of course. Now everything will depend on whether the people's deputies, especially the opposition ones, are ready to continue to defend the interests of their constituents or will conspire with the authorities. We will be able to see this in the near future, ”said Nestor Shufrich.

As he explained, the decision to abolish parliamentary immunity was taken despite the fact that the Venice Commission and the Constitutional Court of the country had previously indicated that the weakening of parliament’s position in the country with unstable democratic standards was not timely.

  • Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Ryaboshapka
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“The reaction of the West to this already exists - the Venice Commission focused on the fact that the level of democracy in the country is not such that it would really contribute to the elimination of parliamentary immunity,” says Shufrich.

Recall that the Venice Commission, which is part of the Council of Europe, is an advisory body whose main area of ​​work is the analysis of the normative acts of the member states affecting constitutional law, democracy, and minority rights.

Earlier, the commission had already sent an inspection to Ukraine in order to find out how the provisions of the law on the state language are implemented in the country. In early December, experts from this institute announced that Kiev should strive for a greater balance in language policy.

However, Vladimir Shapovalov doubts that Kiev will take into account the recommendations of the Commission.

“Since 2014, foreign partners have been agreeing to nod to any actions of Ukraine, support it and turn a blind eye to human rights violations. The abolition of parliamentary immunity will also remain, by and large, unnoticed by the West, ”the expert said.

And this is despite the fact that the integrity of parliamentarians is one of the basic principles of a democratic state.

“The fact that Ukraine has abandoned this principle and allow direct pressure on deputies, suggests that the country is moving away even from formal democratic principles. The removal of parliamentary immunity is a populist step that can have far-reaching consequences for MPs who do not share the point of view of the current government, ”Shapovalov summed up.