Ukraine passes anti-corruption bill after international backlash and protests at home

The legislation was passed with 331 MPs in favor, none opposed and nine abstentions. The bill, which now awaits the signature of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, to become law, follows in the wake of a law enacted last week that critics claimed has undermined the country’s battle with corruption . Prompting rare wartime public protests and damaging relations with Ukraine’s allies, the law put two key anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), under the auspices of the Prosecutor General, who is overseen by the president. This provoked fears that it would effectively neuter the two agencies in their fight against the scourge of corruption, which has bedeviled the country and hamstrung its economic development since its independence in 1991, because they are under political control. What was reversed, what was changed? The new legislation, which does not fully revoke the controversial law, comes as an apparent attempt to limit the damage of its predecessor by introducing new elements. Under it, the Prosecutor General now has no authority to interfere in NABU or SAPO investigations. It also restores the full operational and procedural independence of the agencies while reinstating safeguards that protect them from political and law enforcement interference. The legislation, which has been supported by the anti-corruption agencies , also introduces a new requirement of mandatory lie-detecting tests for NABU and SAPO staff.