Court overturns e-declaration requirements on NGO community

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled on June 6
that legislation requiring Western-sponsored, non-governmental organization
(NGO) employees and other anti-corruption activists to electronically declare
their income, assets and purchasing activity violated the law. “I believe that
the requirement to submit electronic declarations on assets makes civil society
– which plays the role of monitoring government – dependent on it,” wrote on Facebook
the same day, Liudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman who filed a
court appeal against the legislation along with other complaints from Ukraine’s
NGO community. “Anti-corruption restrictions should apply only to state
officials. Extending these requirements to private individuals violates their
constitutional rights and the rule of law, in terms of violating legal
certainty.” 

Recall, in March 2017, former President Petro
Poroshenko signed legislation requiring the employees
of Ukraine’s Western-financed, anti-corruption, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) to declare not only their assets and income, but also their purchasing
activity. The law also required their vendors to file declarations.
Representatives of the European Commission and the U.S. government government
called for a review of these requirements, which they said were a step
backwards in Ukraine’s reform efforts.

Zenon Zawada: This is a positive ruling that works towards removing any suspicion
that the Constitutional Court could still be beholden to Poroshenko. It also
creates a positive and constructive atmosphere for Ukraine’s NGO community to
work in under the new president. We doubt President Zelensky will repeat
Poroshenko’s attempts to pressure the NGO community, which undermined his
support and image in the West.