Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vetoed draft law No. 3726 on private detective activity, which was adopted by parliament on April 13. Parliament’s website says the vetoed law has been returned to parliament with the president’s recommendations.
Poroshenko’s note says the list of allowable types of private detective services was created without taking into account a number of legislative acts.
“[According to the bill] private detective activity permits the collection, fixation and study of information necessary for the consideration of cases, including criminal cases, as well as the search and compilation of information, which may serve as the cause or basis for the client of private detective services to appeal to law-enforcement agencies or to a court with the aim of defending their legal rights and interests (Clauses 1 and 7 of Part 3 of Article 12). As the draft law does not specify information or data allowed to be collected, recorded and examined by private detectives, there exists the possibility such information can be gathered by such subjects for review in criminal court cases. This is a violation of Ukraine’s Criminal Procedural Code, which stipulates evidence not collected in accordance to the Code is not accepted,” the president’s note reads.
Also noted is that the Rada-approved bill provides for licensing entities to engage in private detective work (Article 8). However, the law does not stipulate the cost for receiving a license and procedure for obtaining the fee, as per the Law of Ukraine “On Administrative Services” (Part 3, Article 11).
Poroshenko noted several other nuances in the law.
“I cannot agree with the recommended approach to defining the general principles of organizing private detective activity in Ukraine. I return the bill for a repeat reading and request its provisions are brought into line with the legislative acts that serve as the basis in the corresponding legal sphere,” Poroshenko wrote.
As earlier reported, some 261 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, which defines private detective activity as the search, collection and fixation of information, search for items, property, people and animals, the establishment of acts and clarification of circumstances as per the client’s request in accordance with a contract for undertaking such activities.
According to the draft law, Ukrainian citizens who have reached the age of 21, speak the national language and have completed secondary legal school, or individuals with at least three years’ experience working in state law-enforcement agencies or pretrial investigative agencies, with appropriate education and training, are eligible to work as private detectives.
Private defectives cannot hold state posts in national or local government agencies or work for law-enforcement or judicial institutions.
According to the draft law, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry is charged with issuing permits to engage in private detective activities. The bill was adopted in its first reading on April 19, 2016.
