Institutional and legal guarantees of independence of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines the institutional and legal guarantees of independence of specialized anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), and the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). The doctrinal justification for independence as a conditio sine qua non of anti-corruption institutions’ effectiveness is analyzed through the lens of credible commitment and principal-agent theories. It is established that international standards (UNCAC, Jakarta Principles, GRECO recommendations, Venice Commission opinions) form a multi-level system of requirements for normative, personnel, financial, and procedural independence guarantees. An asymmetry of guarantees is revealed: HACC is protected by constitutional guarantees of judicial independence, NABU has a developed but non-constitutionalized protection system, while NACP and ARMA remain the most vulnerable. A comparative analysis with the models of Romania (DNA), Singapore (CPIB), Hong Kong (ICAC), Latvia (KNAB), and Indonesia (KPK) is conducted. The unique Ukrainian model of selection commissions with a decisive vote of international experts is examined and its transitional nature is assessed. A typology of threats to independence is identified, including legislative attacks (the July 2025 crisis with Law No. 12414), instrumentalization of the Constitutional Court, and institutional capture from within. Threat neutralization mechanisms – international conditionality, civic oversight, and constitutionalization – are examined, and their effectiveness is found to depend on the persistence of the EU integration context. It is argued that independence guarantees enshrined only at the level of ordinary law are formally sufficient but practically fragile, and constitutionalization of anti-corruption bodies remains a strategic priority. Directions for improvement are proposed: constitutional enshrinement of NABU and SAPO status, introduction of protected budget lines with an indexation mechanism, and extension of the international component model to NACP and ARMA.