Members of the Law Enforcement Committee considered the Draft Law No.3911 On Amendments to Article 259 of the Criminal Code to Strengthen Liability for Knowingly False Reporting on a Threat to the Safety of Citizens.
The purpose of the bill is to significantly reduce the number of knowingly false reports about threats to public safety, destruction or damage to property, as well as to save material and other resources of public authorities used to verify them and eliminate the negative consequences of false information disseminating.
According to the National Police in 2019, investigators have launched a pre-trial investigation of about 2,000 criminal offenses under Article 259 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which is twice as many as in 2018.
The draft law proposes to establish an additional penalty in the form of confiscation of property for committing a crime and to establish increased criminal liability for acts if the objects of knowingly false information are critical important infrastructure objects or facilities or structures that support the activities of public authorities, or health care facilities, or educational institutions (in the form of imprisonment for a term of four to eight years with or without confiscation of property).
The Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles of Cyber Security of Ukraine” defines ‘critical important infrastructure objects’ - enterprises, institutions and organizations, regardless of ownership, whose activities are directly related to technological processes and / or the provision of services of great importance for the economy and industry, the functioning of society and public safety, disabling or malfunctioning of which may have a negative impact on the state of national security and defense of Ukraine, the environment, cause property damage and / or pose a threat to human life and health.
Based on the results of its consideration, the Committee recommends the adoption of the draft law in the second reading and in general.