Ukrainian Parliament Passes Law Curtailing Independence of Anti-Corruption Institutions

On July 22, Ukraine’s parliament (Verkhovna Rada) passed a controversial law that significantly alters the powers and independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), The Gaze reports.

The law — bill No. 12414 — was supported by 263 MPs and has sparked concern among anti-corruption watchdogs and Ukraine’s international partners.

The new legislation grants the Prosecutor General sweeping powers over both NABU and SAPO. According to legal amendments, the Prosecutor General can now:

• Remove cases from NABU and assign them to other investigative bodies,
• Override SAPO’s leadership by reassigning its prosecutorial powers,
• Issue mandatory instructions to NABU detectives,
• Unilaterally close cases, including those involving top-level officials.

Additionally, SAPO’s procedural independence will be severely limited. The agency’s prosecutors will no longer be able to decide whether a case falls under NABU’s jurisdiction in exceptional circumstances. 

The head of SAPO will also lose the authority to resolve jurisdictional disputes or modify appeals filed by SAPO prosecutors.

These changes are seen as a rollback of years of anti-corruption reforms. NABU and SAPO were created with the strong backing of Ukraine’s international partners to combat high-level corruption free from political interference.

Transparency International Ukraine has warned that the adopted provisions pose a direct threat to NABU’s independence, especially since the most controversial amendments were not made publicly available before the vote — a move that violates Ukraine’s parliamentary rules of procedure.

“Seriously concerned over today's vote in the Rada. The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU's independence is a serious step back. Independent bodies like NABU & SAPO, are essential for Ukraine’s EU path. Rule of Law remains in the very center of EU accession negotiations,” European Commissioner Marta Kos wrote on X.

Read more on The Gaze: European Commission Backs Opening First Ukraine EU Accession Negotiation Cluster