Ukraine's parliament backs bill boosting parliamentary oversight of law enforcement
On 17 September, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, adopted draft law No. 14130 in first reading with 240 votes in favor. The bill strengthens parliamentary control over law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies, including mandatory annual reporting by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General on torture and ill-treatment investigations.
Key points
- On 17 September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill No. 14130 in first reading, with 240 MPs voting in favor.
- The bill introduces mandatory annual public reporting by the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) on investigations into cases of torture and ill-treatment.
- The Director of the SBI and the Prosecutor General will be required to submit a separate section in their annual reports to parliament covering investigations of torture, ill-treatment, and victim protection.
- The relevant parliamentary committee will gain the right to hold closed sessions to hear the leadership of the National Police on current and high-profile issues.
- The provisions of the Verkhovna Rada Rules of Procedure on the procedure for considering reports will be extended to the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine.
- The annual reporting requirement on torture and mistreatment is one of the obligations of the Roadmap within Ukraine's EU accession negotiation process.
Why it matters
The bill expands legislative oversight of the SBI, Prosecutor General's Office, Bureau of Economic Security, and National Police, adding new transparency mechanisms to law enforcement accountability in Ukraine. The mandatory annual reporting on torture and ill-treatment is tied to Ukraine's EU accession Roadmap obligations, making the bill a concrete deliverable in the accession process.
What happened
On 17 September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law No. 14130 in first reading with 240 votes in favor. The bill proposes changes to several laws to strengthen and introduce additional mechanisms of parliamentary control. It obliges the Director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Prosecutor General to include a separate section in their annual reports to parliament on investigations of torture, mistreatment of persons, and protection of victims. It amends the law "On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine" to provide for closed committee hearings to hear reports from the leadership of the National Police on current and high-profile issues. The bill also extends the Verkhovna Rada Rules of Procedure on the procedure for considering reports to the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine. Overall, the bill expands parliamentary control over the activities of the DBR (SBI), the Prosecutor General's Office, the BEB, and the National Police. The voting result was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The three supplied articles are from Ukrainian-language sources. They frame the vote as a step toward strengthening parliamentary oversight of law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies, with emphasis on transparency and accountability.
Background
The bill is being considered against the backdrop of the NABU "Carthage" operation in early September, which involved searches at the Office of the Prosecutor General and the detention of Serhiy Kropyva on suspicion of running a criminal organization linked to fraudulent call centers. On 15 September, President Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General.