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The past year was full of significant legal events.
If we try to identify the top ones among them, then, in my opinion, the most significant is the adoption in Ukraine of laws on tax amnesty and the start of this initiative.
Here you should immediately make a reservation that the idea is good, but, unfortunately, it received an extremely unprofessional execution. Accordingly, there are reasonable doubts to assume that, as a result of its implementation, the results will be achieved that were conceived during its development and adoption by the legislator. After all, many significant risks were not taken into account, the analysis of which forces many potential declarants of property and income to refrain from concluding appropriate “deals” with the state. Moreover, in my opinion, the most effective would be an amnesty with a “zero” tax rate for most of the objects owned by average citizens of Ukraine. In addition, setting the goal of the state to generate income in the process, and not after the results of the amnesty, is probably not the most correctly chosen concept and ideology of the tax amnesty.
The next top event in the legal field is associated with the adoption and implementation of two laws designed to launch the so-called “judicial reform”. This is a reform of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges. Since the courts in Ukraine “suffocate” from the lack of judges (“shortages” sometimes exceed half of the number of judges), this has a detrimental effect on the quality of the judicial system and the efficiency of justice. Consequently, the launch of judicial reform mechanisms will bring positive changes. But in this case, as it seems to me, it was not without a “fly in the ointment.” Our desire to please foreign partners leads to a lowering of the status of our own self-sufficiency. We have a lot of decent and respected people in our state who could be part of the competitive commissions for the selection and revision of members of the GRP and VKKS, but we hope for outside help. Although such assistance is not always effective in the interests of Ukraine.
The following top events concern the criminal segment of the legal sphere: we are talking about criminal proceedings against Viktor Medvedchuk. The case is very complicated and its judicial perspective is incomprehensible. But the tendency for influential politicians to be deprived of such “immunity” previously “not subject” to criminal prosecutions is very indicative.
And the main question here will be: will the state, along with an active accusatory position, be able to maintain the balance of inalienable human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws in criminal proceedings? First of all, the rights to defense, fair investigation and fair trial. After all, it is extremely important not to lose understanding of the basic guarantees of human rights protection in pursuit of political goals. Since the court's verdict has not yet established the facts of the suspects in this case committing any crimes – they should be treated as the law requires – that is, as to innocent persons.
The next significant event, I would call the criminal case against Petro Poroshenko. We have already, one might say, formed a certain “tradition” of criminal prosecution of former presidents and prime ministers. On the one hand, this is a positive evidence that no one in Ukraine will have any “indulgences” from the liability established by law. But on the other hand, such processes entail not only legal, but also political consequences. Therefore, the criminal procedure in such proceedings should be as clean as possible. And all claims that are formed against a suspect or accused by law enforcement agencies must be fully written out within the framework of the current legislation.
I am not now able to give a detailed assessment of this criminal proceeding, but from what I heard in the media I get the impression that the case is more political than legal or having legal grounds. In any case, in every civilized democratic state one should proceed from the awareness of the inadmissibility of criminal prosecution of the highest statesmen for their political decisions. Therefore, a clear understanding of the separation of political and legal responsibilities is necessary, which should never be confused.
Another of the negative, in my personal opinion, events of the past year is the liquidation of the Scientific and Expert Department of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Maybe this is not obvious to the general public, but I, as a lawyer and a former state official, must warn: this will have an extremely negative impact on the quality of the examination of bills that are being prepared for parliamentary consideration. And in terms of assessing their compliance with the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine, and in the aspect of the absence of competitive norms with other laws and regulations in force in the state. This will definitely have a destructive effect on the quality of laws that will be subsequently adopted in parliament.
But in general, in my opinion, 2021 should be assessed positively – as such, in which there were many innovations aimed at ultimately making changes for the better in the legal sphere.
In turn, the new, 2022, should become for Ukraine, a year of consolidation by the state of a professional management team. Filled with people who know what to do to implement systemic positive changes in the country, and will effectively act in the legal field – clearly legally verified methods based on informed decisions.
Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my
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