(2018) 4 Visn. Nac. akad. prokur. Ukr. 36–53
doi
Title of the article	Teaching vs Membership in Board of Examiners
Author(s)	ZOIA ZAHYNEI Doctor of Law, Docent, head, department of criminal justice and legal studies, Special Training Institute, National Prosecution Academy of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, trostuk@ukr.net
Short title of the journal (ISSN)	Visn. Nac. akad. prokur. Ukr.
Year	2018
Issue	4
Pages	[36–53]
Language	Ukrainian
Abstract	The Law of Ukraine “On Corruption Prevention” imposes restrictions on being engaged in other paid work or business activities (p. 1 p. 1 art. 25) which apply to officials of state authorities or local government. However, some paid work, e.g. teaching, scientific and artistic activities, medical practice, training and refereeing in sport, is allowed. Being engaged in these activities does not result in criminal liability (p. 1 art. 1724 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences) for state authorities or local government officials. The purpose of the article is to argue that the officials’ membership in the boards of examiners in higher education institutions can be considered the part of teaching functions. To reach the purpose, the following objectives are to be accomplished: 1) to describe the notion “teaching” used in the legislation; 2) to determine the scope of responsibilities of the boards of examiners’ members; 3) to outline the correlation between teaching and pedagogical control; 4) to set whether the notion “teaching” includes the membership in the boards of examiners. The study results in the following conclusions. Courts apply two approaches to understanding the teaching functions of officials being not permanent staff members of higher education institutions. According to the first approach, the notion “teaching” is interpreted literally neglecting the peculiarities of the education process in higher education institutions. And, subsequently, officials, who were members of the boards of examiners, are charged with corruption offences according to p. 1 Art. 1724 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences. The second approach is based on the interpretation of anti-corruption and education legislation in line with the common law principles. Thus, the membership in the boards of examiners is considered to be teaching and no proceeding is possible due to the absence of the elements of the offence set out in p. 1 Art. 1724 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences. The analysis of regulations on the boards of examiners shows that these boards aim at assessing students’ knowledge and skills, and the membership in these boards is considered to be the final stage of teaching being an integral part of it. Moreover, the final exam, being, on the one hand, the form of pedagogical control, on the other hand, performs the prognostic function – it helps to improve the further teaching on the basis of exam results. Officials being not permanent staff members of higher education institution, but being members of the examination boards sign contracts, their get hourly pay, and their labour is counted as teaching activity of a lecturer of this higher education institution. The legislation on education also indicates that the final exam is an integral part of teaching functions. This fact is proven by the definition of the notion “teaching activity”, as well as by the overall structure of the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”. Moreover, the higher education didactics traditionally consider teaching activity and pedagogical control as essential parts of the educational process itself. The membership in the boards of examiners as teaching activity is based on the rule of law principle, the components of which are the principles of legal certainty and predictability of legislation, according to which the restriction of basic human rights and the implementation of this restriction are permissible only subject to the provision of predictability of application of the legal norms established by such restrictions. Thus, deciding whether the membership in the board of examiners comprises the part of teaching, one should keep in mind the rule arising from the presumption of innocence, according to which all doubts as to the proof of the guilt of the person is interpreted in his/her favor (in dubio pro reo). The final conclusion is made that officials being members or chairmen of the boards of examiners in higher education institutions and receiving payment for this, carry out teaching activity and do not violate the restrictions provided for in p. 1 p. 1 art. 25 of the Law of Ukraine “On Corruption Prevention”. Therefore, there are no grounds to bring him/her to administrative liability for corruption offenses, stipulated in p. 1 Art. 1724 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences.
Keywords	teaching activity; board of examiners; member of board of examiners; assessment; pedagogical control; anti-corruption legislation.
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