Problem

Compliance with ethical rules of conduct by members of the Parliament of Ukraine, members of local councils, and elected officials of local self-government during the term of their representative powers is important for building trust in such individuals and support of their constituents, and ensures the establishment of feedback between society and its elected representatives.
Moreover, the requirements of international acts, recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) as part of the fourth round of evaluation “Prevention of Corruption among Members of Parliament, Judges and Prosecutors”, recommendations based on the findings of the European Parliament’s special mission in 2015-2016 necessitate adopting codified acts regulating the rules of ethical conduct.
Currently, the rules governing ethical conduct of Ukrainian Parliament members, local councilor members, and elected local self-government officials, including the obligations to observe the relevant rules, are contained in various laws whose provisions have flaws, including the declarative nature of certain rules, the lack of rules that mandate ethical conduct at committee meetings, official events, and during contacts with the press, the lack of sufficient effective mechanisms of legal influence on Ukrainian Parliament members, local council members, and elected local self-government officials for breach of codes of professional ethics.
Also, there is currently no effective mechanism for monitoring and enforcement of the relevant rules of ethical conduct, including filing and review of complaints, the procedure for imposing sanctions for violation of the rules of ethical conduct, which is an important guarantee of public trust in elected officials.
The obligation to comply with the rules of ethical conduct is imposed on both elected officials and public officials, the majority of whom are civil servants.
Practical experience shows that in many cases when it comes to the need for agency control over compliance by a civil servant with the rules of ethical conduct, the manager of the civil service sends the information that needs to be verified to the National Agency, even though the instruments for initiating an investigation into possible violations of the rules of ethical conduct by civil servants and the possibility of holding a civil servant liable fall within the scope of authority of the manager of the civil service.
Failure of the respective managers to take measures to bring their subordinates to disciplinary liability for violations of the rules of ethical conduct should result in actual negative consequences for such managers.