The Venice Commission Council of Europe has recommended Ukraine a way out of the constitutional crisis. This was reported by RIA Novosti .
According to the commission’s statement, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to abolish the article of the country’s Criminal Code, which provided for punishment in the form of imprisonment for inaccurate declaration, has no “clear argumentation” and may be tarnished by procedural errors. The advisory body advised to reinstate criminal liability for making a knowingly false statement of the income of officials.
The Commission also stressed that the powers of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) in the issue of declarations of officials should be fully restored.
Earlier, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak told about three steps that the government plans to take to get out of the constitutional crisis in the country. His plan also envisaged, first of all, the restoration of criminal liability for deliberate failure to provide declarations by officials or providing false information.
On October 27, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine blocked the electronic declaration of income of officials, and also deprived the NAPK of key powers. In a separate decision, the judge declared illegal the decree on the appointment of the director of NABU Artem Sytnik and called a number of provisions of the legislation concerning the activities of the body unconstitutional. The president Volodymyr Zelensky did not recognize these decisions, and a constitutional crisis began in Ukraine.