EU Delegation slams Ukrainian bill on special confiscation

The EU Delegation to Ukraine has slammed the bill on special confiscation of property (No. 4057), passed by the lawmakers in the first reading.

This is reported by the Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) online newspaper.

The EU Delegation believes that Ukraine is taking steps towards introduction of the stringent legislation without protection of the right to fair trial and the property rights.

The bill proposes the amendments to the criminal law providing for confiscation of the assets before the judgment is delivered.

“The law 4057 on confiscation does not contain strong guarantees of property right protection which would correspond to EU standards. It can be perceived as rather a hasty step towards introducing more stringent and intrusive tool without (…) protection of the right to a fair trial, property rights and increased stability of property relationships,” reads the statement of the EU’s diplomatic mission to Ukraine.

The EU Delegation notes that the pre-trial confiscation initiatives should “go hand in hand” with the greater protection of the guarantees for respectable owners (which would prevent the abuse of special confiscation mechanisms). This bill provides for no such guarantees.

In addition, the EU Delegation recalls that the Parliament has adopted the special confiscation legislation (bills 2540a, 2541a, 3040) in recent months, which was “considered by EU experts as the right move to reach a balance” and “were among the commitments made by Ukrainian authorities in the context of the visa liberalisation process.”

Previously, the bill was criticized by the experts, saying that it contradicted the principles of justice.