President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed law No. 404 "On the amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine to ensure parliamentary members' voting in person" that was passed by the parliament on December 19, 2019.

As a press service of the President's Office reported on Monday, the document is meant to guarantee a proper fulfillment by the MPs of their duties on the personal voting.

The law introduces amendments into the Criminal Code of Ukraine, law of Ukraine "On a status of Ukrainian MP" and Verkhovna Rada regulations on guarantee of personal voting by the MPs at the parliament's plenary meetings.

"In particular, the law criminalizes deliberate voting by a parliamentarian at a plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada instead of another people's deputy (absentee voting). Such an action will be punished by a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens," says the report.

The law comes into force the next day of its publishing.

As reported, on December 19, Verkhovna Rada passed upon second and final reading bill No. 2148 "On amendments into certain legislative acts of Ukraine to ensure members' voting in person."

The decision was favored by 261 members.

The law criminalizes the casting of ballots for absent colleagues by Rada members using any voting method.

Under Article 216 of the Criminal Proceedings Code, preliminary investigation of such criminal offenses will be conducted by the State Bureau of Investigations.

The bill was authored by First Deputy Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.