The signing took place in the presence of Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov and the head of Kyiv patrol police Oleksandr Fatsevych. The information was immediately published on the Twitter account of the Presidential Administration.
Now, the National Police of Ukraine officially exists as part of the internal affairs bodies. It will include: patrol police, criminal police, pre-trial investigation bodies, special purpose police, and security police.
From the moment the law on police comes into force, the law on militia loses its validity. All militia employees who decide to transfer to the police can only be hired based on the results of a special competition. In addition, they must pass special professional aptitude tests. Those who do not express a desire to work in the police or fail the tests will be subject to layoffs. Now, being on sick leave or vacation is not an obstacle to dismissal.
For the Kyiv police, the law comes into force from the day of publication, for Odesa and Lviv - from August 20. The full entry into force of the law begins three months after its publication.
Questions are often asked about how the police operated before the adoption of the law and whether fines issued earlier are valid. There is one answer to all questions. Before the official status appeared, police officers were enrolled as militia officers and were guided by the law on militia. What does the law provide? We are working on its legal assessment, and soon we will tell you about all the details in detail. For now, we can say that the police have quite broad powers, but there are a lot of "holes" that contradict the Constitution.
