Discussion of key aspects and prospects for the implementation of the draft law No. 12406 as a tool for strengthening Ukraine's sanctions policy

On 22 January 2025, a roundtable on ‘Expert Discussion of the New Draft Law on Establishing Liability for Violation of Sanctions’ was held in Kyiv, organized by the Institute of Legislative Ideas jointly with the Ukrainian Bar Association Committee on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. The participants of the roundtable included representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, NGOs, the legal community, and experts in various fields of law.

The main topic of discussion was the registered draft law No. 12406, which would introduce criminal liability for violating and circumventing sanctions. It was introduced to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an urgent bill. The draft law is the result of joint work of the Institute of Legislative Ideas, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, and more than ten other government agencies and departments. It is aimed at strengthening the sanctions policy in Ukraine and will be an important step in strengthening the legal mechanisms for protecting the country's national security. The draft law was presented by the Head of the ILI Tetiana Khutor, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Inna Bogatykh, and Deputy Head of the SSU Legal Support Department Oleksii Zakharov.

In her presentation, the Head of the ILI Tetiana Khutor stressed the relevance of the adoption of the draft law in the context of increasing international sanctions pressure. She described in detail the content of the draft law, in particular, the introduction of a new article in the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for the establishment of liability for violation and circumvention of sanctions. Tetyana Khutor drew attention to the key aspects of the draft law: the difference between violation and circumvention of sanctions, forms of guilt, and the types of punishment that will be applied to violators.

Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Inna Bogatykh about draft law No. 12406

Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Inna Bogatykh and Deputy Head of the Legal Support Department of the Security Service of Ukraine Oleksiy Zakharov stressed the importance of the legislative initiative in the fight against crimes against the foundations of Ukraine's national security. Inna Bogatykh noted that one of the key challenges for Ukraine remains the introduction of effective mechanisms for implementing sanctions, and the new draft law offers a comprehensive approach to addressing this issue. Oleksiy Zakharov drew attention to the role of jurisdiction over the offense, as well as to examples of sanctions circumvention and violation in national and international practice. 

Among the representatives of the legal community, the most controversial issue was the qualification of a lawyer's actions as a crime when providing professional legal assistance to a person subject to sanctions. In her commentary on this, Inna Bogatykh emphasized: ‘Providing legal assistance in the framework of representing and defending the client's interests in court cannot be a ground for prosecution for violation of sanctions. At the same time, if a lawyer uses his or her professional knowledge and skills to disguise, conceal, and withdraw assets of a person subject to sanctions, the assistance in circumventing sanctions is obvious.’ In support of this point, Tetyana Khutor noted that, by the provisions of EU Directive 2024/1226 of 24 April 2024, the principle of professional secrecy in legal advice was taken into account when drafting the Law. An exception is when a lawyer knowingly participates in a violation of restrictive measures, provides advice to facilitate such violations, or knows that a client is seeking assistance to circumvent these measures.

Draft Law No. 12406 received wide support among the participants. Experts noted that the introduction of liability for violation of sanctions is in line with international standards and will help create conditions for the effective implementation of sanctions as a tool to protect national interests. The roundtable became a platform for discussing and drawing attention to the importance of the draft law and its promotion in the field of sanctions policy of Ukraine.

Tetyana Khutor, Head of the ILI, and Maksym Sheverdin, Head of the Ukrainian Bar Association Committee on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure

ILI legal analysts Mykola Rubashchenko and Oksana Guziy