Declarations of military personnel and those involved in defense may be concealed for another year after the end of martial law

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft law that proposes to change the terms for returning to public access the declarations of certain categories of persons involved in the defense of Ukraine. If the document is adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, the relevant declarations will be able to remain closed for another year after the termination or cancellation of martial law.

These are persons who directly participate in military or combat operations, perform tasks in the interests of national security and defense, and are in temporarily occupied territories in connection with Russia’s armed aggression.

What the Cabinet proposes to change

According to the current approach, declarations removed from the open part of the Register should be returned to public access from the day after the termination or cancellation of martial law.

The government proposes to postpone this moment for another year.

Thus, if the draft law is adopted, the declarations of certain categories of persons will not be automatically opened immediately after the end of martial law.

At the same time, as noted in the NACP, under the prescribed conditions, the declaration can be returned to open access earlier.

Why do they want to keep the declarations closed

The government’s main argument was security risks.

The declarations may contain information that allows establishing information about the property status, family members and other data of the person. In war conditions, such information can potentially be used by Russia.

“Public access to their declarations is proposed to be opened one year after the termination or cancellation of martial law, because information about the place of residence, financial status or family members of such persons can be used by the enemy,” the government explained.

The goal of the legislative changes is to reduce risks for military personnel, law enforcement officers, intelligence officers, other persons involved in defense and their family members.

The Ministry of Defense supported the initiative, emphasizing that open sources should not provide the enemy with information that could create additional threats to the military and their loved ones.

Declarations will still have to be submitted

It is important that the government initiative does not abolish the obligation of electronic declaration for the relevant categories of persons.

They must continue to submit declarations in the cases and within the deadlines provided for by law.

The changes relate exclusively to public access to already submitted information, and not to the obligation to declare income, property and other information itself.

Therefore, if the bill is adopted by the parliament, it is proposed to ensure a balance between financial control and security by maintaining declarations with a temporary restriction of access to the general public to the relevant declarations.