The Draft Law No.3087 and its main provisions

The European integration path Ukraine has embarked on presupposes establishing and ensuring operation of institutions that would guarantee supremacy of law, respect for rights and interests of individuals and legal entities, their effective protection.

Thus, on October 10, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. One of the paragraphs of this program specifies formation of an agency that would investigate crimes in the sphere of public finance.

Besides, the approved Law of Ukraine on 2020 State Budget of Ukraine envisages 1,288 billion expenditures to form a body that would conduct investigations in the sphere of public finance. 

Since the time the aforementioned program was approved several draft laws providing for formation of a body that would investigate crimes in the sphere of public finance, including Draft No 1208-2 on the Bureau of Financial Investigations dated September 18, 2019, have been registered with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, the given document was rejected by the parliament.

On February 19, 2020, Draft Law No 3087 on the Bureau of Economic Security drawn up on the basis of the aforementioned Draft No 1208-2, accounting for comments of the Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada, was registered with the Verkhovna Rada.

According to the explanatory note, the draft law is aimed at differentiating service and law-enforcement functions of the tax service, liquidating of the tax police, downsizing the structure and personnel numbers of the bodies combating crimes in the sphere of finance, illuminating double functions and formation of the Bureau of Economic Security (hereinafter referred to as BES).

The main objectives of BES include preventing, detecting, stopping, investigating and solving criminal offences referred to its jurisdiction by law.

Activities of BES are directed and coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine through the Minister for Finances of Ukraine, though the latter does not have significant influence on BES.

In accordance with the proposed changes to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, 29 articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine outline jurisdiction of BES detectives, with 20 of them describing direct functions of the agency in connection with economic crimes. In this way an attempt was made to protect business from control over the economy by other security, defense and law-enforcement agencies.

The draft law specifies that the maximum number of personnel must not exceed 3 000 officers, with officers who handled economic crimes while working for other law-enforcement bodies or prosecution bodies in the period from 2010 to 2015 being banned to work for BES. 

The draft law prescribes the procedure for competitive selection of the BES director and deputy directors, involving donors who have provided international technical assistance to Ukraine with the view to preventing and combating corruption and economic crimes in the last two years.

Generally, the proposed formulae to establish a new central body of the executive power specializing in investigation of crimes in the sphere of public finance will positively influence the existing business environment in the country, enhance effectiveness of investigation of crimes in the spheres of economy and finance, reduce corruption risks in the system of law-enforcement bodies. At the same time, the given draft law needs further revision.