"The war will not absolve you of anything": Parliament asked to remove statute of limitations loophole for corrupt officials

The Ukrainian parliament has received a proposal to suspend the statute of limitations for corruption crimes for the duration of martial law in Ukraine so that corrupt officials cannot avoid punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Source: Davyd Arakhamiia, Head of the Servant of the People party faction; website of the Ukrainian parliament

Quote from Arakhamiia: "Corruption during the war [should have] no statute of limitations. No one will avoid punishment even 10 years later.

Together with my colleagues, we have registered draft law No 10100, which abolishes the statute of limitations for corruption offences for the duration of the war. This will allow us to punish the perpetrators, even if they are now hiding somewhere or if we learn about their actions in the distant future."

Details: A group of lawmakers led by Arakhamiia submitted a draft law on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine to ensure the effectiveness of criminal proceedings and prosecution for corruption crimes (No 10100) to the Ukrainian parliament on 29 September.

Pursuant to the law, in case of a serious or especially serious crime, "the statute of limitations is suspended for the period of martial law" and resumes from the date of termination or cancellation of martial law.

Arakhamiia stated, "this is a part of the consistent anti-corruption policy of the president and our faction [Servant of the People – ed.]".

The MP added that this bill also cancels the so-called Lozovyi amendments adopted by the previous convocation, as they "allow corrupt officials to avoid punishment even now" [Lozovyi amendments are changes to the Criminal Procedure Code initiated by lawmaker Andrii Lozovyi, intended to limit the timeframe for investigating crimes].

Quote from Arakhamiia: "All this is due to the current law setting deadlines that law enforcement officers must meet when investigating a case before serving a notice of suspicion. The courts then simply close the proceedings, referring to the expiry of such terms.

If someone dreams of taking advantage of this, they will be disappointed and end up in prison.

War does not absolve you of anything."

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