Ethical Standards of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines the ethical standards governing the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) as a multi-level and dynamic phenomenon that cannot be reduced solely to the provisions of its departmental code of ethics. It is substantiated that the effectiveness of the state’s anti-corruption policy depends directly not only on the powers and resources of specialised bodies, but also on the consistency with which these bodies adhere to the integrity standards they are called upon to uphold in society. The normative basis of NABU’s ethical standards is analysed. It comprises the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”, the Law of Ukraine “On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine”, and the departmental Code of Professional Ethics for NABU Employees, which elaborates on general legislative provisions in light of the specific nature of law enforcement activities. The institutional and technical level of integrity assurance is examined. It is underpinned by a certified anti-corruption management system compliant with the international standard ISO 37001:2016, as well as specific institutional mechanisms, including the internal control unit, the annual independent external evaluation of the Bureau’s performance, and the competitive selection procedure for detectives. Particular attention is paid to the events of July 2025 concerning the adoption and subsequent repeal of legislative restrictions on the independence of NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which revealed the structural vulnerability of the guarantees of NABU’s independence to abrupt legislative changes. Based on a comparison of these events with sociological data from the Razumkov Centre and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention for 2022–2025, the author substantiates a three-level model of NABU’s ethical infrastructure, combining normative and declarative, institutional and procedural, and reputational and communicative dimensions. It is demonstrated that the effectiveness of ethical standards is determined by the coherence among these levels and that the public ethical stance of NABU’s leadership in times of crisis is an equally important, rather than secondary, factor in stabilising public trust.