Bill No. 11104 “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine to Establish Responsibility for the Misappropriation of State Functions” appeared in the Verkhovna Rada. The authors were the odious “servants of the people” Galina Tretyakova and Maryana Bezuglaya. As of the evening of March 26, this project retains the status “transferred for review”.

What does the Bezugla-Tretyakova bill provide for

The bill provides for criminal liability for: “the assignment by a citizen of Ukraine of state functions, in particular the representation of Ukraine at international events, before authorized persons or agents of foreign states, as well as representatives of international organizations, including through correspondence, telephone conversations, telegraphic and other correspondence, etc.. without granting powers and approvals in the manner prescribed by law"

For violation of these “norms”, the authors propose to punish with imprisonment for a term of 10 to 12 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for 10 to 15 years. Bezuglaya and Tretyakova propose adding confiscation of property in certain cases. At the same time, for “appropriation of state functions” during martial law, the authors propose to send people to prison for 15 years or life and confiscate property.

However, there are no further details in the bill..

Reaction to the project: MEPs and lawyers.

The reaction to the bill was immediate. Both Ukrainian and European politicians began to speak out about the dangers of the project, in particular, the well-known supporter of Ukraine, MEP Viola von Cramon. All these assessments were extremely negative.

Experts also negatively assessed the new bill. It is imperfect from a legal point of view. “Every citizen who asks the government of another country or representatives of an international organization to provide military assistance to Ukraine or apply for any other reason that intersects with the functions of the state will be considered a criminal. In addition, the bill is written in such a way that you don’t even need to travel somewhere or participate in official events – publications or correspondence on social networks will be enough.”. This is how Nazar Cherny, lawyer, co-founder of the NGO "

The expert also points out the inappropriateness of adding new articles to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, since the corresponding articles are about punishment for the unauthorized appropriation of power or the title of an official, as well as arbitrariness. That is, from a technical point of view, the corresponding proposal is inappropriate.

The authors withdrew the bill?

Probably, given the very powerful negative reaction in society and among representatives of Ukraine’s partner countries, one of the authors of the bill, Galina Tretyakova, decided to abandon her idea. She announced that she was withdrawing the bill. Galina Tretyakova sent a corresponding letter to the head of the Verkhovna Rada. The letter notes that the author does not abandon his idea, but says that the project needs to be finalized. It indicates that this has been agreed upon with other authors of the project.

Maryana Bezuglaya also reported on the social network that the bill would not be considered and added to this message a text with comments on the history of American political life.

The fact that Bezugla-Tretyakova’s bill is being withdrawn from consideration was confirmed by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy. He summarized: “The only correct decision in this situation”.

One of the versions of the withdrawal of the bill is the negative reaction not only of the international community, but also of the immediate leadership of the Servant of the People faction to the lawmaking of Maryana Bezugla and Galina Tretyakova.