The Ukrainian Lustration Act

On 16 September 2014 the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine adopted a law to clean up the government, commonly referred to as the Lustration Act. The bill was fiercely disputed in parliament. The initial project involved vetting elected offices (including the president), but this measure was withdrawn under pressure from the UDAR party (in other words, indirectly from President Petro Poroshenko).

During the debate, the deputies did not know the final text of the act (meanwhile the text was only made available to the public on 25 September), and the vote was held three times (a common, though illegal procedure in the Ukrainian parliament), under pressure from protesters blocking the parliament building. The adoption of the lustration law (by 233 votes of the 226 required) came in response to growing public pressure, and was forced by the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Act is waiting for the President’s signature, which is expected by mid-October.

The document provides for the prohibition of the exercise of public functions (with the exception of directly-elected positions) by former civil servants from the time of Viktor Yanukovych, former members of the Communist Party and the Komsomol apparatus, and officers and secret employees of the KGB. The Act was the subject of lengthy political bargaining. In many places its provisions are unclear, and in part (regarding KGB collaborators) cannot be implemented. It seems likely that the new parliament will amend this project, or that it will be wholly or partially undermined by the Constitutional Court.

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