Ukraine's parliament backs stronger oversight of law enforcement and prosecutors in first reading
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has approved in first reading a bill to strengthen parliamentary control over law enforcement bodies and the prosecutor's office, with 240 lawmakers voting in favor.
Ukraine's parliament passed in first reading, at its September 17 plenary session, bill No. 14130, which introduces a series of legislative amendments aimed at strengthening and expanding parliamentary oversight mechanisms over law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office. The bill received support from 240 members of the Verkhovna Rada, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
The legislation proposes amending the law "On the State Bureau of Investigation" to require the bureau's director to separately address, in the annual report to parliament, information on investigations into torture, mistreatment of individuals, and protection of victims. A similar requirement would apply to the annual report submitted by the Prosecutor General to the Verkhovna Rada.
The bill also proposes changes to the law "On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine," allowing parliamentary committees to hold closed sessions to review reports from National Police leadership on urgent matters and high-profile incidents.
Background
The move follows a corruption scandal that emerged in early September, when Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) uncovered an alleged criminal organization linked to staff at the Office of the Prosecutor General. As part of an operation codenamed "Carthage," investigators searched offices used by then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, and detained the deputy head of the international legal cooperation department, Serhiy Kropyva, along with another suspect connected to bribery from fraudulent call centers. On September 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Kravchenko from his post as Prosecutor General.
