Weekly analysis for 25 — 31 August

Draft Law on the Establishment of the Research Centre for Independent Forensic Examinations

Event

On 28 August 2026 Draft Law  №15569 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine” and Other Legislative Acts Concerning the Operation of the Research Centre for Independent Forensic Examinations” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. The Draft Law proposes amendments to:

– the Law of Ukraine “On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine”, aimed at strengthening safeguards for NABU’s independence by ensuring the prompt and institutionally independent performance of forensic examinations in criminal proceedings;

– the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Examination”, by including the Research Centre for Independent Forensic Examinations (hereinafter – the Centre) among the state specialised forensic institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The Draft Law proposes to establish the Centre as a state specialised forensic institution within the Ministry of Justice, empowered to conduct forensic examinations in criminal proceedings involving corruption offences (Article 45 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), offences under Articles 206-2, 209, and 211 of the Criminal Code falling within NABU’s jurisdiction, as well as proceedings involving unjustified assets and their recovery in favour of the state.nThe Draft Law also provides that forensic examinations conducted by the Centre should, as a general rule, be completed within 60 calendar days.

CPLR’s position

Adoption of this Law is a condition for fulfilling Ukraine’s international commitments required to obtain financial assistance under the EU’s Ukraine Facility, which provides for €50 billion in support for Ukraine for 2024–2027. According to Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1923 of 30 July 2026, amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1447 approving the assessment of the Plan for Ukraine, adoption of this Draft Law is set as Indicator 4.15 under Reform 2, “Improving the Legal Framework for a More Effective Fight Against Corruption”, with a completion deadline in the fourth quarter of 2026. 

The Draft Law fully addresses the European Commission’s three key requirements under this reform:

1) Establishing and ensuring the proper functioning of an independent Supervisory Board with meaningful participation of members nominated by international organisations. The Board would be responsible for selecting the Head of the Centre, assessing his or her performance, submitting proposals for his or her dismissal, and participating in institutional inspections and disciplinary proceedings concerning staff. The new Articles 17-1, 17-2, 17-3 and 17-4 of the Draft Law fully implement this requirement by vesting the Supervisory Board with exclusive powers and ensuring that international members have a decisive vote in its decision-making.

2) Ensuring NABU’s timely access to forensic examination services within two months, as a preferential arrangement for NABU, and strengthening the overall operational capacity of forensic expert institutions. Proposed Article 7-2 establishes a maximum period of 60 calendar days for forensic examinations conducted by the Centre and authorises the Centre’s Director, by written decision, to grant NABU and SAPO priority in the scheduling of such examinations.

3) Limiting the exclusive competence of state forensic institutions to a narrower, legislatively defined list of examinations, with the aim of enabling broader involvement of private forensic experts. The updated Article 7 of the Draft Law significantly narrows the state monopoly, preserving it only for forensic medical examinations, forensic psychiatric examinations, and certain types of criminalistic examinations, the list of which is to be determined by the Ministry of Justice. All other types of forensic examinations would be available to private forensic experts.

The Research Centre for Independent Forensic Examinations, whose status and activities are proposed to be regulated by the Law, and which operates under the Ministry of Justice, was already established by Resolution № 798-r of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 8 September 2023. The establishment of a Supervisory Board for the Centre, with a decisive role for representatives of international organisations is provided for by Order № 4436/5 of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine of 27 December 2023 “On approval of the Regulation on the Supervisory Board of a forensic research institution of the Ministry of Justice”.

The fact that Ukraine’s international commitments specifically require the adoption of a law regulating these matters indicates that international partners consider the existing regulation at the level of secondary legislation insufficient.

The Government’s Draft Law on Protecting Military Whistleblowers

Event

On 28 August, Draft Law № 15573 “On Amendments to the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Ensure Safeguards for and Protect the Rights of Service Members Who Report Possible Corruption or Corruption-Related Offences and Other Violations of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” (the “Draft Law”), prepared by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine was registered in the Verkhovna Rada.

This is the third Draft Law with a similar title introduced over the past two years. The previous two draft laws: № 12040, submitted by the Government of D. Shmyhal on 17 September 2024, and №13605, submitted by the Government of Y. Svyrydenko on 7 August 2025 — were withdrawn following the resignation of the respective Governments.

The Draft Law proposes amendments to the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as follow from its title.

CPLR’s position

All three draft laws are substantively identical, and the content of the last two has do not reflect in any way the comments and proposals submitted in relation to Draft Law № 12040. 

In particular, the comment regarding the lack of need to duplicate provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” in the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains well-founded. This comment is based on paragraph 3 of part 4 of Article 34 of the Law of Ukraine “On Lawmaking”, which provides that a normative legal act may not contain duplicative legal provisions or reproduce provisions contained in another normative legal act.

The Draft Law also retains provisions that may complicate the practice of their application. In particular, the amendments to Article 100 of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine which grant all servicemembers the right to submit applications, complaints or reports, or to address issues in person, in clear violation of the division of competences: 

– on the one hand, to officials, military command bodies, bodies of the Military Law and Order Service, the body conducting the pre-trial investigation, or another state authority, in cases where possible corruption or corruption-related offences or other violations of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” are identified;

– on the other hand, to authorised anti-corruption units (authorised persons) and directly to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, in cases where their commanders (superiors) or other service members have made unlawful decisions or taken unlawful actions (or failed to act) against them, violated their rights, legitimate interests or freedoms, unlawfully imposed duties on them, or unlawfully held them liable.

At the same time, the Government of Ukraine does not propose any amendments to Article 172 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter, the “CC”), which establishes liability for dismissing an employee because they have, in their capacity as a whistleblower, reported a corruption or corruption-related offence committed by another person, or other violations of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”, as well as for other gross violations of labour legislation. Under the Labour Code of Ukraine, persons holding the status of service members do not fall within the legal definition of an “employee”.

Thus, the CC should establish liability for a military official who unlawfully restricts the rights of a service member-whistleblower or his or her close person in connection with the whistleblower’s report that another person has committed a corruption or corruption-related offence or a military criminal offence. This should cover, in particular, the unlawful dismissal of a service member from military service or coercion to resign, imposition of disciplinary liability, transfer or reassignment, deterioration of conditions of service, refusal to appoint the service member to another position or suspension from office, reduction of financial remuneration, denial of the opportunity to improve qualifications or undergo retraining, or denial of the right to rest.