Post by Pragnum Law Firm

Defending Suppliers in Public Procurement: How the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights Shatter the Prosecution's Logic Why is private business not subject to liability under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine? When a private company supplies goods or services to the state, law enforcement agencies often deploy a "classic" scenario under Art. 191 of the CCU. Any deviation from their distorted perception of pricing or contract terms is instantly treated as a crime. Ironically, it is exclusively the executives of commercial enterprises who end up in the dock. But is a supplier truly a subject of an official (white-collar) crime? We have uncovered ironclad arguments in both international and national judicial practice proving that the ordinary business activities of private enterprises cannot be criminalized. In a recent article for Yurydychna Gazeta (Legal Newspaper), Alyona Michurina, Senior Associate and Attorney at PRAGNUM Law Firm, breaks down a ready-to-use defense toolkit: • Why executives of supplier companies do not perform official (organizational or administrative) functions regarding state property, but rather act strictly within the framework of an ordinary commercial contract. • How European justice standards protect business from arbitrary and unpredictable interpretation of the law by law enforcement. • How to properly leverage Supreme Court case law to prove the absence of the constituent elements of a crime.  Read the full version of the article at the link in the first comment.