On March 28, the Ukrainian Bar Association Committee on Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law together with the Prosecutor General's Office held an event dedicated to the discussion of the draft of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Reform of Law Enforcement Agencies as a Part of the Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine for 2023-2027.

The draft Plan was presented by Oleksiy Boniuk, UBA Board member, Head of the Criminal Policy and Investment Protection Department of the Prosecutor General's Office. The event was moderated by Maksym Sheverdin, a member of the Council of the UBA Committee on Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, LCF Law Group partner.

The meeting began with a video address by Andriy Kostin, the Prosecutor General. He noted that the adoption of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Reform of Law Enforcement Agencies is an important step towards EU membership of Ukraine.

“[This Plan] will contribute to strengthening the stability and general security of the state. Its development and implementation are an integral part of the country's post-war recovery because security is one of the three most important values for Ukrainians, along with freedom and justice,” Andriy Kostin emphasized.

The Prosecutor General noted that the development of the draft Plan was overseen by an interagency working group created by his order on November 11, 2022. The group included representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, relevant ministries and agencies, as well as international experts. The group processed a large array of proposals and comments received from state authorities and the international expert environment.

"As a result, six main vectors and strategic priorities of reforming law enforcement agencies as part of the security and defense sector of Ukraine have been formulated. This will make it possible to modernize the sector and bring it into line with the standards that Ukraine must achieve on the way to EU membership," Andriy Kostin said.

The Prosecutor General emphasized that the Comprehensive Strategic Plan will become the basis for the creation of an operational plan, which will contain a detailed list of tasks, measures and indicators for reforming law enforcement agencies. He also emphasized the importance of involving civil society in this process.

Oleksiy Boniuk, in his turn, emphasized that the Plan sets out a generalized vision of directions for reforming law enforcement agencies as part of the security and defense sector. The draft document itself is currently under consideration in the Office of the President of Ukraine.

According to Mr. Boniuk, the Plan's mission is to build the strategic and operational capacity of law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office to serve people, protect order, public and state security with respect for human rights and accountability standards, which integrates Ukraine into the pan-European space of freedom, security and justice.

It is planned to fulfill this mission by achieving six strategic goals, which, in fact, form the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Reform of Law Enforcement Agencies as a Part of the Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine:

1. Effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office as a component of the security and defense sector.

2. Consistent criminal policy.

3. Promptness of criminal proceedings.

4. A management system focused on results in accordance with established priorities.

5. Comprehensive digital transformation.

6. Openness, transparency, accountability and independence.

The first goal, according to Oleksiy Boniuk, embodies the main idea of the Plan — law enforcement agencies are a component of the security and defense sector. He emphasized that this idea became especially evident during a full-scale war.

"Let's take the least visible player in this sphere — the prosecutor's office. It is somewhere at the intersection of justice and law enforcement. But during the war, the prosecutor's office somehow indirectly participated in certain security measures — first of all, ensuring compliance with the principle of the rule of law where the justice bodies did not function at all," Mr. Boniuk noted.

He emphasized that the constitutional concept of "law enforcement agencies" should be reflected at the level of legislation. In view of this, he added, the task of drafting a bill on law enforcement agencies will probably be prescribed in the future operational plan.

Oleksiy Boniuk noted that the performance indicators of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan will be prescribed in the operational plan. It is expected that already this year, Ukraine will report to the EU on the progress in the implementation of this strategic document.