The project of the Criminal-procedural code is back

RUPOR informs that on 14 March the draft of the Criminal-procedural code, about which many have already forgotten, is again submitted to the coordinative council of parliamentary factions. Recently recommendations and remarks of the European Council experts have been published in a hundred pages. In general this document can be defined in one word -- “defeat”.

In the rubric “Focus of interest of human rights activists” on our website there are remarks of experts of the European Council regarding the project of the Criminal-procedural code. Even a fleeting glance at these remarks points at conceptual contradiction between the project and human rights and fundamental freedoms formulated by the European Convention on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It fully reflects the conception of criminal persecution of an individual by a repressive country, where a person is defenseless before the law machinery.

Despite the criticism of Ukrainian human rights activists and experts, the draft, which almost had not been changed, was again, for the third time, presented for consideration of the Parliament.

The fact is extremely interesting that the Criminal-procedural code is promoted in the Parliament by a representative of “Our Ukraine”, deputy and former judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Volodymir Moysyk and representative of the faction of the party “United Ukraine” Oleksandr Bandurka.

The statements of the government about the European integration seem rather strange on the background of complete neglecting of the European Council’s conclusions regarding the fundamental law on guaranteeing human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We reckon that the considered project should to be rejected, that it’s necessary to create new working group at the Committee of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine on legal policy and to start the work anew. Otherwise, it seems that with the old lawmakers we can find ourselves in the year 1933.

Volodymir Yavorskiy

RUPOR