Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has passed a real gem of a judgment – an invaluable one for corrupt officials precisely because the value of their family wealth can no longer be disclosed to the public.
The ruling, which was made on Jan. 20 and published a few days later, effectively bans disclosure of any information about public figures, officials and politicians, as well as their families, about their financial circumstances, without their consent.
The ruling was meant to interpret certain articles of the Constitution that define confidential information, and the Constitutional Court’s main mandate within Ukraine’s legal system is to produce such interpretations.
From now on, personal information is anything related to personal or family life of the figure in question, any data concerning assets, events of their life, relationships and so on. The exception is made for information directly related to carrying out one’s duties as a state or local government official.
The list of what is not allowed for public disclosure is not exhaustive, making it difficult to find loopholes that would allow journalistic or other investigations of an official’s life. Any collection or circulation of personal information without a person’s consent is considered an intrusion into their life.
“Such intrusion is permitted only in cases provided for by law, and only in the interests of national security, economic prosperity and human rights,” the ruling states.
As with the highly dangerous Personal Data Protection Act adopted earlier despite strong objections from human rights, media and business organizations and in effect since the beginning of 2011, the new ruling is full of references to international conventions.
But the truth is that it goes against the European Court of Human Rights case law, good practice on fighting corruption, and even common sense.
Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court’s ruling is final and has the highest legal force in Ukraine. Which means that the next logical step for the officials would be to change the existing laws – particularly, the ones demanding that their income declarations have to be submitted by public officials and their family members.
Income declarations are one of the most vital elements in fighting corruption. In Ukraine, they are filed and published in the first quarter of each year. But the new court ruling will most likely to be cited as grounds for relatives of officials for ignoring this law.
Worse still, those journalists who choose to investigate the gaping discrepancies between official declarations and the lifestyle of public figures and their families, have now effectively been gagged. Journalists who pursue a task like that can face anything from a substantial fine to a prison term of up to three years. A repeat offender can get up to five years in prison.
It can and should, however, be argued that public airing of a lot of information that officials would rather hide with the help of the magic wand of the Constitutional Court is “in the interests of economic prosperity and/ or human rights.”
A lack of transparency leads to corruption, which, in turn slows economic development, which affects the rights fr equality, fair court proceedings and other fundamental rights.
But in today’s Ukraine, the chances that a court would be convinced by this logic are nix. The odds are much better in the European Court of Human Rights, but it takes time and effort to get there. So, the brutal truth is that most journalists will keep their mouths shut and stay out of trouble.
It’s disturbing that the Constitutional Court chooses to make rulings who favor the secrets of public figures over freedom of speech, the public’s right for information, and other measures to combat corruption in a nation that needs it so badly.
Halya Coynash is a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.
