The Verkhovna Rada has registered Zelenskyʼs draft law on the work of SAPO and NABU. What does it provide for?

On July 24, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 13533 on “strengthening the powers” of NABU and SAPO.

The initiator of the bill is President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The document repeals a number of norms that were introduced in the previous draft law No. 13414. In particular, the subordination of SAPO to the Prosecutor General is abolished. The agency will be subordinate to a separate head and his deputies.

The Prosecutor General was prohibited from entrusting the pre-trial investigation of an offense that falls under the jurisdiction of NABU to other bodies.

The exception is the existence of objective circumstances that exclude the possibility of an investigation by the Bureau under martial law. In such cases, the decision is made by the head of SAPO or the Prosecutor General himself.

The Prosecutor General is also prohibited from giving written instructions to the detective and internal control units of NABU or to prosecutors of SAPO.

In addition, the Prosecutor General cannot request pre-trial investigation materials from NABU.

The document also stipulates that employees of NABU, SAPO, the Bureau of Economic Investigations, Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) who have access to state secrets will have to undergo a polygraph test every two years to determine whether they have committed acts in favor of Russia. These tests are to be conducted by the internal control units of these bodies.

Within six months from the date of entry into force of this law, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) must conduct the same check of employees.

The NABU employees are also prohibited from traveling abroad during martial law, except for official trips.

What NABU says

NABU stated that the presidential bill restores all procedural powers and guarantees of independence of NABU and SAPO.

They added that NABU and SAPO participated in the preparation of the text and urge the Verkhovna Rada to adopt the document as soon as possible.

• On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada adopted, and President Volodymyr Zelensky signed, Law No. 12414, which significantly limited the activities of NABU and SAPO and subordinated them to the Prosecutor General.
• NABU and SAPO emphasized that if the document is adopted, the head of SAPO will become a nominal figure, and NABU will lose its independence and turn into a unit of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office. In Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, and Dnipro, people took to the streets to protest against the bill.
• After public outcry, a group of deputies registered an alternative bill, which, according to them, should restore the independence of NABU and SAPO.
• Separately, Zelensky said that he also agreed on the text of the document, which concerns the work of anti-corruption bodies.

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