Officials will be forced to attend meetings of parliamentary committees: what the new bill provides.
The Verkhovna Rada is preparing to consider draft law No. 11387, which proposes to significantly increase the liability of officials for ignoring parliamentary commissions and meetings. The Law Enforcement Committee has already recommended adopting the document in its entirety.
The draft law provides for several key innovations.
Firstly, for violation of the deadlines for providing a response to requests from parliamentary committees, temporary investigative and special commissions, as well as for failure to provide or providing incomplete or false information, a fine of UAH 5,950 to 8,500 is imposed.
Secondly, failure to appear without good reason at a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada, if such attendance is provided for by a procedural decision of the parliament, will be punishable by a fine of UAH 13,600 to 17,000.
Protocols on such violations will be drawn up by authorized officials of the Control Department of the Verkhovna Rada Apparatus. Thus, any official or official (except for the President and judges) officially invited to a parliamentary session may receive a fine for ignoring the summons.
Thirdly, the bill expands the powers of the National Police. It will be able to bring people to meetings of parliamentary commissions or to the session hall by decision of the Verkhovna Rada. That is, if someone refuses to come voluntarily, they can be forcibly brought there.
The draft law also stipulates the rules for the use of physical force. The police must warn about their use, and the actions themselves must be minimal and not harm a person's health. Exceeding authority will entail legal liability.
At the same time, in order to implement the forced recall mechanism, the Verkhovna Rada must adopt a corresponding procedural decision by at least 151 votes.
In fact, if the law is passed, deputies will receive an effective tool to force officials to appear before the commission and answer questions, and ignoring parliamentary challenges will become not only a political but also a legal risk.
