Draft Constitution

Draft of the new Constitution of Ukraine

val February 16, 2019

Draft Constitution of Ukraine

Preamble

We the people of Ukraine, in order to protect our rights and liberties, and serve our interests, do establish the State and conclude a Social contract by adopting this Constitution.

Article 1. The Purpose and Foundations of the State

1.1. The State of Ukraine is established by citizens to protect their rights and liberties, and serve their interests.

1.2. The people of Ukraine who are defined herein as the totality of its citizens are the only source of power.

1.3. The people of Ukraine grant specific Powers to the State solely on the basis of the Constitution and with the following limitations:

  1. nobody shall against their own will be deprived of life or enforced to risk their lives;
  2. nobody shall against their own will be deprived of health or enforced to risk their health;
  3. nobody shall against their own will be deprived of property or access to it, unless illegality of its acquisition has been proved in a Court;
  4. nobody shall against their own will be restricted from the dissemination of information, expression of views and opinions, unless such information, views or opinions violate the legitimate rights or liberties of others;
  5. nobody shall be restricted from moving freely or assembling anywhere within the public domain, unless it violates the legitimate rights and liberties of others;
  6. nobody shall against their own will be forced to engage in any activity or restricted from any activity, unless such activity may violate the legitimate rights and liberties of others.

1.4. The citizens of Ukraine and other persons in its territory do have all the rights and liberties inherent in free persons who are aware of their actions, responsible for their consequences and do not violate the legitimate rights and liberties of others, and do not require any confirmation of their rights and liberties from the State .

1.5. In the event that any bodies or officers of the State abuse the Power vested in them by the Constitution and violate the liberties of the citizens, the people of Ukraine have the full, unconditional and unrestricted right to defend their freedom, including arms in their hands.

Article 2. Citizens and Citizenship

2.1. The citizenship of Ukraine is acquired:

  1. by a child who is born in Ukraine and whose parents are the citizens of Ukraine – automatically;
  2. by a child who is born in Ukraine and one of whose parents is a citizen of Ukraine – automatically unless both parents submit a refusal from acquiring the citizenship of Ukraine for the child;
  3. by a child who is born outside of Ukraine and whose parents are citizens of Ukraine – if both parents submit to the competent authorities of Ukraine a statement of intent for acquiring the citizenship of Ukraine for the child and confirming the lack of another citizenship;
  4. by a child who was born and spent most of his or her life in Ukraine, but has not acquired citizenship at birth – at the request of that person upon coming of age.

2.2. The citizenship of Ukraine may be granted to a person who has not acquired it under Article 2.1 of the Constitution, only in exceptional cases by an Act of the Supreme Council of Ukraine that should state  merits of that person to the people of Ukraine or benefits from granting the citizenship to that person and may contain individual terms and conditions.

2.2. The citizens of Ukraine may at will and free of charge leave the citizenship of Ukraine by submitting a written statement to the competent authorities of Ukraine, unless the citizenship was granted under Article 2.2 of the Constitution with the terms and conditions that put limitations on leaving the citizenship of Ukraine.

2.3. The citizens of Ukraine may not be deprived of the citizenship of Ukraine against their own will, unless the citizenship had been granted under Article 2.2 of the Constitution with the terms and conditions and the breach of the terms and conditions was proved in a Court.

2.4. The right to decide on the following matters is reserved exclusively for the citizens of Ukraine and can not be granted to bodies or officers of the State or other persons:

  1. establishing and dissolving of the State;
  2. re-establishing the State by the adoption of a new Constitution;
  3. changing the territory of Ukraine, except for the technical purposes of delimitation and demarcation of the border if such changes do not exceed 100 square kilometers, do not violate any property rights and do not contain places of permanent residence, significant amount of public resources or facilities of public infrastructure;
  4. increasing the amount of Power granted to the State;
  5. granting any Power in Ukraine to supranational or international bodies;
  6. joining any supranational organization or ratification of international treaties if that may affect the amount of sovereignty of Ukraine.

2.5. The citizens of Ukraine make their decision on a national referendum, and the right to vote is reserved to all citizens older than 18 years that have the civil capacity. The decision is approved if supported by more than 50% of citizens eligible to vote. Other matters of the referendum shall be prescribed by Law.

Article 3. Legislative

3.1. The people of Ukraine vest all legislative Powers in the Supreme Council of Ukraine.

3.2. The Supreme Council of Ukraine shall have Power to make Laws, which are binding on any person in the territory of Ukraine, exclusively for:

  1. National defense
  2. Justice and protection of rights and liberties of the citizens
  3. Public finance and the national currency
  4. Taxation and customs
  5. Protection of free competition
  6. Public infrastructure and public property
  7. Immigration and naturalization, registration of legal entities and associations of citizens
  8. Other matters explicitly mentioned in this Constitution

3.3. The Supreme Council of Ukraine shall be composed of 225 Deputies whose term in the office shall not exceed 6 years. No person shall be a Deputy of the Supreme Council who shall, when elected, not be 25 years or older, or not be a citizen of Ukraine for at least 5 years, or not have the civil capacity, or be imprisoned, or have been restricted from being elected according to the procedure of lustration, or have already served as a Deputy of the Supreme Council for more than 11 years.

3.4. The elections to the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall be held on the first Sunday of December every even year, and seats of the Deputies whose term in the office at the time of elections exceeds 4 years shall be vacated. The term in the office for newly elected Deputies starts on the 1st of January next year, but the effective Powers shall be granted to them upon taking the Oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine, which is an Annex to the Constitution.

3.5. The elections to the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall be held in the single national constituency based on the list of political parties and electoral blocs that have been registered for the elections. Vacant Deputy seats shall be distributed between the political parties and electoral blocs that have received at least 4% of the votes cast on a pro rata basis. The electoral matters that are not covered in the Constitution shall be prescribed by Law.

3.6. The right to vote in the elections to the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall be reserved to the citizens of Ukraine who are older than 18 years, have civil capacity, and during the last 5 years (for persons younger than 23 years – after reaching 18 years) were financially independent from the State. A person is financially independent from the State if the share of labor income or social benefits the person gets from the State, directly or indirectly, is less than 50% of their total income.

3.7. When a Deputy seat is vacated in the Supreme Council of Ukraine, by resignation or otherwise, the right to fill the vacancy shall be offered to the next persons in the list of the political party or electoral bloc, from which the resigned Deputy was chosen, and who meet the requirements of Article 3.3, in the order of that list. Those persons may submit a written refusal from the seat or take the Oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine to be granted the Deputy powers, but the term in the office of the new Deputy shall be the same as the term in the office of the resigned Deputy.

3.8. The Supreme Council of Ukraine shall make decisions with a majority vote of the persons who have the effective Powers of the Deputy at the time of the voting, unless explicitly stated in the Constitution. All voting results and the voting information for each Deputy are public, unless otherwise stated in the Constitution. Deliberate impediment to the free voting of the Deputies, falsifying or concealing their results shall be a criminal offense.

3.9. The Supreme Council of Ukraine may decide on all matters of its proceedings and activities, except for the matters governed by this Constitution. It may involve other persons into legislative activities, including experts, consultants, public persons.

3.10. Only the persons who have effective Powers of the Deputy of the Supreme Council may originate a bill. Any bill shall clearly state to which of the items listed in Article 3.2 it corresponds.

3.11. A bill that have passed the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall become a Law on the day specified therein or on the closest possible day, but not before two calendar weeks shall pass after the first official publication. A bill governing taxation or customs may become a Law only on 1st of January or 1st of July, but not before six months shall pass after the first official publication, and not before the relevant tax or customs infrastructure shall be fully operational which shall have been attested by the relevant executive body. No ex post facto Law is allowed.

3.12. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine are criminally liable for non-personal voting or transferring their means of voting to others. The Deputies and other persons involved in legislative activities are criminally liable for originating, voting on or providing positive expert opinions on bills that violate Articles 1.3 or 3.2 of the Constitution, and also liable for the damage caused by such a bill becoming a Law with all their personal property.

3.13. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine are obliged to perform their duties in good faith and adhere to the election program, pursuant to which they have received a mandate from the citizens of Ukraine. The powers of a Deputy may be revoked for the following reasons:

  1. systematic voting against bills or decisions that clearly correspond to the election program,
  2. systematic voting on bills or decisions that are clearly contradict to the election program,
  3. systematic absence from the assembly meetings of the Supreme Council of Ukraine or meetings of committee to which they are members,
  4. lack of actions, during a long period (over 18 months), for implementing the main provisions of the election program.

3.14. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine have fiduciary duty to the citizens of Ukraine, and its systematic disregard may lead to the revocation of their Powers. Fiduciary duty implies that the Deputies should:

  1. put the interests of citizens and society above their own personal interests,
  2. do not use their official authority and property for the benefit of themselves, their family, business relations or friends,
  3. timely, fully and clearly disclose to the public the actual and potential conflicts of interest,
  4. once a year during their term in the office, and for the next 4 years, publicly report the change in the assets and property for themselves and their family, as well as disclose all sources of income and report all expenses exceeding the living wage,
  5. scrutinize the drafts for all decisions submitted to a vote and exercise reasonable care, prudence and diligence in analyzing the possible effects,
  6. avoid deliberate misrepresentation or distortion of information or providing false information on the executing their Powers.

3.15. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall spend in assembly meetings or committee meetings at least 15 days each month, of which at least 2 days – in assembly meetings, but at the decision of the Supreme Council once a year a holiday for a period of 30 days may be declared.

3.16. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine who were present but did not vote on the appointment of or voted on the no-confidence vote for the Cabinet of Ministers (depending on what voting was later), constitute the Opposition. The Deputies who were absent at the time of such a vote, may by written application join the Opposition, but after that may not change that decision until the next such a vote. The list of the Deputies who constitute the Opposition shall be public. When a Law requires a separate decision of the Deputies who constitute the Opposition or otherwise, the decision shall be made with a majority vote of the respective list of Deputies.

3.17. The Supreme Council of Ukraine may create special investigative commissions for conducting a parliamentary inquiry and appoint or dismiss special prosecutors for working in such commissions. These commissions shall have the power to interrogate any public servant and get access to documents of any State or municipal body.

3.18. The Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, for their term in the office, and the persons employed by the Supreme Council of Ukraine, for the period of employment, are considered public servants and subject to the Code of ethics and Standards of professional conduct of public servants.

Article 4. Executive

4.1. The people of Ukraine vest all executive Powers in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. No bodies may be formed in which any executive Power is vested unless it is subordinated to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

4.2. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall be empowered with:

  1. Organizing the national defense, commanding and supporting the armed forces
  2. Conducting the foreign policy, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Ukraine in relations with foreign countries and international organizations
  3. Protecting legitimate rights and liberties of the citizens of Ukraine, citizens of other countries, persons without a citizenship and legal persons in the territory of Ukraine, investigating the criminal offenses and law enforcement
  4. Providing administrative services that are prescribed by Law
  5. Collecting taxes and customs duties
  6. Managing public finance, public infrastructure and public property as prescribed by Law
  7. Carrying into execution the Constitution and Laws of Ukraine in the manner and to the extent explicitly prescribed therein

4.3. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall be composed of 7 to 18 Members, one of whom shall be the Chairman of the Cabinet (Prime Minister). A Vice-Chairman (Deputy Prime Minister) may be appointed. No person shall be a Member of the Cabinet who shall, when appointed, not be 25 years or older, or not have the civil capacity, or not meet the requirements of Article 4.15 of the Constitution, or have been restricted from holding a public service position by a Court, a disciplinary sanction or according to the procedure of lustration.

4.4. The Supreme Council of Ukraine may at any time decide to appoint a new Cabinet of Ministers if it satisfies the requirements of Article 4.3 and all of the appointees have given personal consent to join the Cabinet. The vote shall be on the Cabinet as a whole, a vote on individual Members is not allowed. The Cabinet may be appointed with or without the distribution of positions, but there shall be appointed the Chairman.

4.5. The Supreme Council of Ukraine may at any time vote a no-confidence vote on the Cabinet of Ministers, which results in its resignation, or the Cabinet may resign at will. Members of the resigned Cabinet shall execute their duties until a new Cabinet is appointed.

4.6. The Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers that have not been resigned may, upon approval with the Supreme Council of Ukraine, add new Members to the Cabinet, but no more than 1/3 of the number of the Members who were appointed pursuant to Article 4.4. New members shall meet the requirements of Article 4.3.

4.7. The Members of the Cabinet may resign, and resignation of the Chairman does not imply the resignation of the entire Cabinet. The Chairman of the Cabinet that have not been resigned may, at own discretion, dismiss individual Members of the Cabinet. In place of the dismissed or resigned Member, upon approval of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, a new Member may be appointed that meets the requirements of Article 4.3. Between the resignation or dismissal and the appointment of a new Member, the respective duties shall be executed by a person designated by the Cabinet. If the Chairman resigns the respective duties shall be executed by the Vice-Chairman, and in the absence of the Vice-Chairman – by a person designated by the Cabinet.

4.8. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine may issue Decrees for carrying into execution the Constitution and Laws of Ukraine in accordance with Article 4.2, the Decrees shall be binding for all persons in the territory of Ukraine. The Decrees shall be voted with a majority vote of the Cabinet. All Decrees and voting results shall be public, unless prescribed by Law.

4.9. All other decisions within the competence of the executive branch shall be binding only for the persons it employs and shall be made by the chain of command. Each employee of the executive, except the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, shall have one reporting manager and should know the chain of direct managers from the reporting manager up to the Chairman of the Cabinet. All legitimate orders of direct managers shall be binding to all subordinate employees of the executive.

4.10. The structure of the executive branch shall be determined by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, and the structure of a specific body or its departments – by the respective head, unless the body is prescribed by Law. The distribution of positions in the Cabinet shall be determined by the Chairman of the Cabinet, unless this distribution has been defined on appointment of the Cabinet.

4.11. The terms of the contracts with the Members of the Cabinet of Ministers, including the compensation and the payment terms, shall be approved by the Supreme Council before the appointment of the Cabinet or an individual Member pursuant to Articles 4.6 and 4.7. The contract on behalf of the State of Ukraine shall be signed by the Head of the Supreme Council of Ukraine based on the results the voting.

4.12. The terms of the contracts with all other employees of the executive shall be approved by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers or, upon his designation, the respective head of an executive body of department.

4.13. All employees of the executive, including the Member of the Cabinet, are public servants and shall get the effective Power only upon signing the pledge to adhere, when executing their duties, to the Code of ethics and Standards of professional conduct of public servants, which is an Annex to the Constitution. A public refusal to adhere to the Code or any alleged violations shall be investigated and may result in a disciplinary sanction pursuant to Law, including the termination of the contract and prohibition from being employed in the public service.

4.14. Any employees of the executive who unlawfully and without the absolute necessity limit the rights and liberties of other persons or pose unmotivated restrictions on them shall bear the criminal liability. Any employees of the executive whose unlawful actions, negligence or criminal inaction caused damage to other persons shall, upon the decision of the Court, be liable for the damage caused with all their personal property.

4.15. No persons who have been employed as a public servant in the legislative branch, the executive or the judiciary for more than 20 years may be employed in the executive, except of the military service. Current employees upon reaching this term of service shall be resigned from the executive. The persons in the military service may not be the Members of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 5. Judicial

5.1. The people of Ukraine vest all judicial Powers in the Supreme Court of Ukraine and inferior Courts.

5.2. The Supreme Court of Ukraine shall be established according to the Constitution, shall consist of 9 Judges and

  1. shall be the only Court that may decide on noncompliance of Laws of Ukraine or the Decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers to the Constitution of Ukraine;
  2. shall have the original jurisdiction in all cases against the State of Ukraine, the Supreme Council or the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
  3. shall be the ultimate Court of appeal and at its own discretion may take the appellate jurisdiction in any case;
  4. may issue recommendations to other Courts, which shall either comply to those recommendations or provide a reasonable basis for noncompliance in every specific case.

5.3. The Courts inferior to the Supreme Court shall be established by the Law on judicial system. A  bill of such Law or amendments to it may be originated only with the consent of the Supreme Court, and after having passed the Supreme Council shall become a Law only upon approval of the Supreme Court.

5.4. Courts shall have jurisdiction on all territory of Ukraine. The universal jurisdiction may be prescribed by Law as an exception.

5.4. The Judges shall be appointed by the Nomination commission of judges of Ukraine that consists of 17 persons, of whom at least 10 shall be independent from the public authorities and may not be appointed by the public authorities. The contest for a Judge’s vacancy shall be public and last for at least three months. The candidates to a Judge’s position shall be the citizens of Ukraine older than 25 years and shall have the confirmed, as per motivated opinion of the Commission, knowledge of the Law. No person shall be a candidate who was employed in a law enforcement body or the judiciary, except as a Judge, during any period in the previous 6 years.

5.5. The Judges shall hold their offices without any limited terms of service, but may voluntary resign or be involuntary dismissed for violating the Law or as per disciplinary sanction.

5.6. The disciplinary cases against the Judges shall be heard and the decision for dismissal of a Judge shall be made by the Disciplinary commission of judges of Ukraine that consists of 17 persons, of whom at least 10 shall be independent from the public authorities and may not be appointed by the public authorities. Each hearing in the Disciplinary commission and its decision shall be public.

5.7. Any person whose legal rights and liberties have been violated may file a lawsuit according to the procedure prescribed by Law, either themselves or through a representative. In addition, the public prosecution may be permitted by Law for criminal offences and the lawsuit may be filed on behalf of the State even when the victim is unable or not willing to file it.

5.8. The Claimant must prove the Defendant’s guilt, and the personal confession shall not be an evidence. The Parties of a lawsuit shall be guaranteed of the Court’s objectivity, independence, and impartiality. The Parties may, but not have to, involve representatives both for advocacy and for accusation. The Court shall make the decision based on the spirit of the Law and using such a combination of the common law, legal precedent, and the letter of the Law as suits the essence of the case the best.

5.9. The Trial of criminal cases, for which imprisonment may be a verdict, shall be by Jury. Only the Jurors may decide on the Defendant’s being guilty or innocent.

5.10. The Parties of a lawsuit have the right to appeal to a superior Court that shall be the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal shall have the appellate jurisdiction as to be Law, objectivity, independence, and impartiality of the Trial. The appeal may result in redoing the Trial. The right to appeal on the Court of Appeal’s decision is not guaranteed and the Court that is superior to the Court of Appeal may take such a case at its discretion.

5.11. All lawsuits are public, unless prescribed by Law.

5.12. The Judges and other employees of the judiciary are public servants and shall adhere to the Code of ethics and Standards of professional conduct of public servants.

5.13. The legal abuse by the professional participants of the lawsuits shall be the criminal offence. The professional participants are the employees of the judiciary, the law enforcement bodies, barristers, solicistors, legal advisors and counsels, and other professional lawyers. The legal abuse is an intentional abuse of the flaws in the letter of the Law that distorts the spirit of the Law and undermines the public trust in the judiciary.

Article 6. Local Governments

6.1. The citizens of Ukraine have inalienable right to establish the local governments, define their purpose and vest Powers into them at their discretion and on the same grounds as other associations.

6.2. The local governments are not parr the State and may not issue Acts that are binding for other persons. The Powers vested into the State shall not be delegated to the local governments, expect for a limited set of Power for the protection of public order.

6.3. The elections of the Deputies or other community representatives to the local government are conducted according to the procedures according to the Statutes or Charters of such bodies, but the right to vote shall be given at least to all the citizens of Ukraine that have the right to vote for the Deputies of the Supreme Council, are independent from the local government and are permanent residents of the respective local community.

6.4. The territorial boundaries of the local communities are established by their members.

6.5. The Deputies or other community representatives elected to the local government, for their term in the office, and the persons employed by such governments, for the period of employment, are considered public servants and subject to the Code of ethics and Standard of professional conduct of public servants.

6.6. Law may prescribe the share of taxes collected on the territory of the local community that shall be provided to the local governments by the State, but this share should the uniform on all territory of Ukraine. If several local governments have been established on the same territory, it is shared among them in a proportion as prescribed by Law, providing for the amount of community members who participated in the elections to each local government and considering the scope of Powers vested into them.

Article 7. Mode of Amendment

7.1. Amendments to this Constitution shall be adopted solely according to this Article and upon adoption shall become its integral part.

7.2. A bill for the Amendments to this Constitution require a 2/3 majority vote to pass the Supreme Council. No such a bill shall be originated unless it gets a positive expert opinion from the Supreme Court.

7.2. When a bill for the Amendments to this Constitution has passed the Supreme Council, it shall be presented to the Supreme Court to check for the absence of contradictory, incompatible or ambiguous provisions. The Supreme Court has 30 days to approve the bill or return it to the Supreme Council with a motivated refusal.

7.4. If the bill for the Amendments to this Constitution has been approved by the Supreme Court, the Supreme Council of Ukraine announces the national referendum for the adoption of the Amendments, which shall be conducted according to the Article 2.5 of this Constitution. If the Amendments are approved on the referendum, they shall become Law.

Article 8. Transitory Provisions

8.1. The Laws of Ukraine that are effective at the adoption of this Constitution and do not comply to the Article 3.2, as well as any Regulations adopted to support those Laws, shall be effective for no longer than 2 years after the adoption of this Constitution. During this period the legislative and the executive branches together shall revise all legislation and no longer than in 18 months after the adoption of this Constitution shall publish the list of Laws that will be revoked.

8.2. The first three elections to the Supreme Council of Ukraine after the adoption of this Constitution shall be conducted with the following modification to the Article 3.4: on the first election all Deputy seats shall be filled, but the first third of the Deputies elected from the list of each political party or electoral bloc shall get full 6 years term in the office, the second third – 4 years term, the last third – 2 years term; respectively, on the second election the last third shall be re-elected, and on the third election – the second third shall be re-elected.

8.3. The executive bodies that are effective at the adoption of this Constitution shall continue to operate until the new Cabinet of Ministers is formed according to it. All government bodies, except the Supreme Council of Ukraine and the judiciary, after the adoption of this Constitution shall be subordinated to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

8.4. During the first 6 months after the adoption of this Constitution the provisional Nomination and Disciplinary commissions of judges of Ukraine shall be appointed, after that during the next 6 months the provisional Supreme Court of Ukraine shall be appointed. In a year after the adoption of this Constitution the provisional Supreme Court of Ukraine shall become operational, and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine shall be abolished. Other Courts shall continue to operate until the new Law of judicial system is adopted. During 18 months after appointment the provisional Nomination commission of judges of Ukraine shall appoint Judges to all Courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

8.5. The first Supreme Council of Ukraine elected according to this Constitution shall within 2 years adopt the Laws for appointment of the Nomination and Disciplinary commissions of judges of Ukraine. After that, in the next 6 months the new Supreme Court of Ukraine shall be appointed. Thereafter, the Supreme Council and the Supreme Court shall in one year adopt the new Law of judicial system, and after its adoption the Nomination commission of judges of Ukraine shall in 18 months appoint Judges to all Courts established by that Law.

8.6. During two months after the adoption of this Constitution all persons elected to or employed in the government bodies shall sign a written pledge to adhere to the Code of ethics and Standards of professional conduct of public servants. Those who fail to provide a signed pledge within this period to their reporting manager (and the Members of the Cabinet of Ministers – to the head of the Supreme Council) shall be dismissed.

Annex I. Oath of allegiance of the Deputy of the Supreme Council of Ukraine to the People of Ukraine

To get the effective Powers, the Deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine shall take and personally sign the following Oath of allegiance: «I, (name and surname), do solemnly swear that, when executing the office of the Deputy, I will faithfully and honestly represent the interests of the people of Ukraine and strictly follow the Constitution of Ukraine and electoral program of (name of the political party or electoral bloc, from which list the Deputy was elected), adhere to the Code of ethics and Standards of professional conduct of public servants, and I do understand that violation of this Oath of allegiance shall result in early termination of my Deputy Powers».

Annex II. Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct of Public Servants

Code of Ethics. Public servants must:

  1. Behave with integrity, dignity and have the same attitude to all citizens and the society
  2. Provide a full, fair and timely disclosure of information on their professional activities and activities of the government bodies
  3. Place interests of the citizens and society above interests of the government and their own interests
  4. Refrain from using their official position, official authority or official access to the information for benefiting themselves or related persons
  5. Demand adherence to this Code of ethics from other public servants and facilitate public trust in the government bodies

Standard 1 – Strict adherence to Law. When executing professional duties, public servants must:

  1. Strictly adhere to the Law and execute all legitimate orders of direct managers, and if ambiguous or subjective understanding is possible they must treat them in a way that poses the highest restrictions on public servants and the lowest restrictions on the citizens
  2. Prevent violations of the Law by other public servants, always disclose information about known violations and never conceal actual or alleged violations of the Law by their colleagues, managers or subordinates
  3. Refuse from executing orders that clearly violate the Law, as well as from following Laws that clearly contradict to the Constitution

Standard 2 – Ethics, independence, objectivity. Behavior of public servants must comply to the following restrictions:

  1. Under any circumstances dishonesty, deceit, blackmail and fraud are strictly prohibited
  2. Misleading the society or concealing the socially important information are prohibited, including concealing it under the confidentiality or national secrecy, as well as using the non-public information for personal benefits or disclosing it to related persons
  3. Decisions within their area of competence must be made by public servants with sufficient reasoning, consciousness and independence, without any pressure from others, including direct managers
  4. Public servants must refrain from taking any gifts, other tangible or intangible benefits (including honors, degrees, awards) if that may compromise their independence and objectivity
  5. To avoid any allegations in illicit enrichment, all assets of public servants must be declared and any change in their amount must be explained, including disclosures of any income, changes in the assets value, material expenditures
  6. When executing their duties, public servants may not humiliate the dignity of other persons, be arrogant, use mockery, sarcasm or dubious jokes

Standard 3 – Duties to the citizens, as their clients and ultimate employers. Duties of public servants to the citizens include:

  1. Clear understanding that the legitimate rights and interests of the citizens, persons without citizenship and legal persons are superior to the interests of the government, its particular bodies or individual public servants
  2. Fair and equal treatment of all persons, prohibition of giving some of them preferences or imposing limitations not prescribed by Law
  3. Accounting the individual circumstances, particularities and wishes when considering their cases under the condition of complying with the Law and  the duty of fair and equal treatment
  4. Direct, clear, delivered in plain language answers to the requests of the citizens, prohibition of the boilerplate language, pretexts and avoidance of addressing the issue
  5. Keeping all information of the citizens, their issues, details of their requests and so on confidential, unless their disclosure is prescribed by Law

Standard 4 – Duties to the government or public body as their immediate employer. Duties of public servants that are employed by the governmental or public body, towards their immediate employers include:

  1. Using their knowledge, skills and abilities, experience and competences entirely for the benefit of the ultimate employer, i.e. the citizens
  2. Prohibition on taking any other paid job, except for the cases when it is explicitly allowed by the Law, upon obtaining a written consent of their manager, and only on condition that it does not harm to their duties to the immediate employer and does not create conflicts of interest
  3. Utilizing their working hours, employer’s property, authority and access to the information exclusively for fulfilling their job responsibilities, with due prudence and care, and total prohibition on misusing them or using them for their personal benefit
  4. Responsibility for the actions of their direct subordinates while acting in official capacity, including their adherence to the Code of ethics and standards of professional conduct

Standard 5 – Conflicts of interest. To avoid or prevent the conflicts of interest, public servants must:

  1. Make full, fair and timely disclosure of actual or potential conflicts of interest, which are defined as any circumstances that may impair their objectivity and independence or in any other way interfere with their respective duties as public servants, and such a disclosure must be delivered in plain language
  2. When considering issues that may contain interest of the related persons – be sure to notify their manager in writing and ask for transferring the issue to other public servants
  3. Notify their manager in writing of getting any gift, compensation, consideration or other benefit, which are not prohibited by the Law and the value of which exceeds the limit imposed by Law
  4. Notify their manager in writing of any circumstances that prevent them from adhering to the Code of ethics and standards of professional conduct
  5. Provide full support to the investigations of violations of the Code of ethics and standards of professional conduct with regard to themselves or to other public servants