Ukrainian Constitutional Court has cancelled criminal responsibility for illicit enrichment, Ukrainska Pravda online outlet reported on February 26 quoting four separate unnamed sources.

The court believes that criminal responsibility for such wrongdoing violates the presumption of innocence. The decision was reportedly made during a closed hearing.

The move followed immediately another largest scandal, when local media investigation reported on February 26 that President Petro Poroshenko's inner circle allegedly illegally profited from the war in Donbas.

Meanwhile, the court’s head Stanislav Shevchuk neither denied nor confirmed the move when questioned by the Kyiv Post on February 27.

According to the newspaper, the article of Ukraine's Criminal Code that the court found unconstitutional envisages that state or local officials who cannot explain the source of their assets may face up to 10 years of prison.

The decision will effectively lead to the closure and deletion of 65 outstanding criminal investigation and it will be impossible to restore the relevant investigations in the future, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said in a statement, which also claimed the decision was unconstitutional. 

"The decision of the Constitutional Court means that all criminal proceedings related to the unlawful enrichment of these persons will be closed. As well as the cases that are already being heard in court ... Reopening the investigation ... if the relevant article is returned to the Criminal Code, it’s not possible Therefore, the acquired property by default will be considered legal, regardless of its sources of origin, " NABU said on its website on February 27.

The Rada passed the law in 2015 as one of the conditions for Ukraine to receive a visa-free regime with the European Union and to continue its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Rescinding the law potentially puts the visa-free regime in danger – one of the few successes President Petro Poroshenko can claim in his pivot to the west.

In 2017, a group of 59 lawmakers filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court about this norm. The decision of the Constitutional Court is binding, final and cannot be appealed.

NABU notes that its detectives are investigating the facts of illegal enrichment totalling more than UAH500mn ($18.5mn) in 65 criminal proceedings. Among the persons whose state of origin causes a question regarding the legality of sources of origin, there are a lot of judges, prosecutors, people's deputies, former and current heads of state bodies.

"The abolition of criminal liability for illegal enrichment, which is a consequence of the decision of the Constitutional Court, opens up opportunities for officials to abuse and provides indulgence for the commission of criminal offenses of corruption," NABU said.

NABU regards the decision of the Constitutional Court as politically motivated and contrary to Ukraine’s obligations under the ratified UN Convention against Corruption, agreements with the IMF and the EU. NABU also believes that the decision of the Constitutional Court is connected with the approaching start of the work of the new Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, which “included peculiar political mechanisms of regulation”.

“We are convinced that such a course of events does not meet the public interests and requirements of clearing the government from corruption. The EU decision is a step back in Ukraine’s anti-corruption struggle and a step towards the revenge of the old system,” NABU said.

The Ukraine government has been tirelessly resisting pressure from its international donors to crack down on corruption. Underlying this latest move is the use of corruption as a mechanism to control the government, politicians and the state bureaucracy as bne IntelliNews argued in a piece “Kudrin and Poroshenko will fail because corruption is the system in Russia, Ukraine.”