Diminishing loopholes in a legal system: NACP to adopt its own tool for corruption proofing of legislation

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29.05.2017

Kyiv, 26 May 2017 – The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and UNDP in Ukraine held a multi-stakeholder meeting to present a draft methodology developed for NACP to review whether legislation contains any corruption risks.

The method of corruption proofing, or anti-corruption assessment of legislation, is aimed at scrutinizing drafted or enacted laws to detect and minimize the risk of future corruption that the laws could facilitate. Becoming a recognized practice, corruption proofing encourages bill developers to weed out corruption risks from the future legislation and makes them think of the ways to eliminate these risks during the drafting process.

Ukraine introduced corruption proofing back in 2009 under the anti-corruption law then in force with its methodology adopted in 2010 by the Ministry of Justice. While the Parliament and Ministry were the main bodies responsible for assessments, civil society was also able to perform their anti-corruption review of existing or draft legal acts.

With introducing the 2014 anti-corruption law that led to the establishment of new specialized anti-graft bodies, NACP is now empowered to do the anti-corruption screening of bills and laws using their own methodology to improve laws in terms of corruption risks.

"For the first time in Ukraine’s history, NACP revises the anti-corruption assessment methodology. I am confident that the updated methodology will become a powerful tool for eliminating corruption risks in the legislation," emphasized Ruslan Riaboshapka, NACP member.

NACP’s refined methodology, drafted with UNDP support, is moving away from a purely technical approach to the analysis of draft laws’ norms towards the analysis of the factual situation, real life.

"Today NACP has a unique database on corruption risks, considering areas of activity and subnational peculiarities since it coordinates anti-corruption programmes of ministries and other state bodies that contain an analysis of such risks. The new methodology makes it possible to analyze a draft act, taking into account how a document was prepared and how its provisions would be applied in practice," said Ruslan Riaboshapka.

Following the meeting, the draft methodology to be considered and adopted by NACP, while the procedure for conducting the anti-corruption assessment of draft legal acts by NACP was already adopted in July 2016.