MSECs will be liquidated by the end of the year: Zelenskyy enacts NSDC decision

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree enacting the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to liquidate medical and social expert commissions. MSECs will be liquidated by December 31, 2024.

This decision was a response to numerous cases of fake disabilities being issued by officials. The relevant decree was published on the website of the President's Office.

According to the decision, within seven days, the Ministry of Health, together with the State Bureau of Investigation, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, and military administrations, are obliged to form working groups to review the decisions of medical and social expert commissions on the disability of officials.

Thereafter, within three months, the Cabinet of Ministers must prepare a report on the results of the review of the decisions of the MSEC and, if unreasonable decisions are found, initiate their review and notify law enforcement agencies.

Within two weeks, the Cabinet of Ministers must ensure that the Ministry of Health, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, prepare a plan for the digitalization of all stages of the MSEC's work, which will be submitted to the Government.

The Cabinet of Ministers has also been instructed to conduct an audit of pension payments to disabled officials together with the Pension Fund, the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Police, and the Security Service of Ukraine within a week.

Within a month, the Government is to submit a draft law, developed with the Ministry of Health, that will introduce a new system for assessing people with disabilities. This draft law also provides for the liquidation of the MSEC by December 31, 2024.

In addition, a draft law will be submitted together with the Ministry of Social Policy to revise the system of calculating pension payments to civil servants to ensure fairness.

In cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, a draft law will be prepared to regulate the procedure for calculating salaries and pensions for employees of the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, as well as to include social guarantees for persons with disabilities in this area. Re-examinations of the decisions of the Medical Expert Commission on the disability of prosecutors are planned.

In addition, the Government is to work out within a month the issue of amending the regulations on border crossing by former officials with disabilities, defining the list of documents to be checked.