Critics say the current penalties aren't even enforced, so they question the point in stiffening laws
Since most Ukrainians believe their government officials are thoroughly corrupt, one might expect that adoption of a law to severely punish bribe-takers would be applauded.
But in Ukraine, the opposite has happened. After parliament adopted a law introducing life in prison for the acceptance of large bribes, many experts condemned the move as a bad idea.
“It is a populist pre-election trick. Without reforming all enforcement and the court system, this law won’t give the expected result,” said Taras Beresovets, director of Polittech think thank.
President Victor Yushchenko has until June 1 to decide whether to sign or veto the law. It was passed on May 21 with a whopping 364 votes out of 431 lawmakers registered for the parliament session that day.
The legislation doesn’t scrimp on punishment, treating bribe-taking as worse than murder.
For instance, a judge who accepts a bribe of $10,000 or more will go to prison for life, without the right for amnesty. The same is applicable to prosecutors and investigators. Government bureaucrats will get 15 years for the same crime.
But the law’s backers defend the stiffer punishments as the best route to combat endemic corruption, which has retarded the nation’s progress, curbed its ability to attract more foreign direct investment and taken untold millions of dollars from its citizens – as well as robbed them of their trust in government.
“Believe me, when two or three bribe-taking judges are arrested and handcuffed in front of TV cameras, and then publicly put behind bars for life, the situation will change rapidly,” said Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the law’s author and a presidential contender.
According to a 2009 Forbes magazine rating, Ukraine shares 20th place as the world’s most corrupt state, along with Pakistan and Nicaragua. About half of Ukrainians say courts are corrupt, according to a 2008 study by the National Institute for Sociological Studies.
Kateryna Tarasova, head of the advocacy group Courts Association of Ukraine, said the judges her organization represents will be reluctant to punish their own kind. “Not a single bribe-taking judge got a 12-year sentence, the most severe measure before the [new] law was passed. Nor will anyone be sentenced for life,” Tarasova predicted.
Prosecutors are currently investigating several high-profile cases against judges. Lviv appellate court judge Ihor Zvarych was caught last year allegedly receiving $100,000. The State Security Service said 124 cases against allegedly corrupt judges were opened in 2006-2008. This year, 24 fresh cases have been launched.
Few cases, however, make it to the courts.
The procedure for lifting judges’ immunity is complicated and involves parliamentary approval. Also, the new law is not retroactive, and the maximum term of punishment for all these older cases remains 12 years.
Maksym Yakubovskiy, a prosecutor in the General Prosecutor’s Office who investigates corruption cases, said the new legislation – if signed into law by Yushchenko – will initially scare bribe-takers, but soon they will adjust.
“Any punishment-stiffening will cause fright, but it is always temporary,” Yakubovskiy said. He predicted that, in time, the majority of bribe-seekers will use more evasive measures to avoid getting caught, such as using a complicated web of intermediaries to collect the cash. Rather than accepting cash, he said, bribe-seekers may demand hard-to-trace gifts.
Tetyana Montyan, a Kyiv lawyer, said the cost of bribes will increase as so-called “risk insurance.” Other lawyers estimated that the highest bribes currently are in the $1 million to $2 million range.
In the meantime, prosecutors and judges fear the new law will start a witch-hunt campaign aimed to demonstrate to voters how leaders are effectively combating corruption.
“The lowest-level city district judges and police investigators will be arrested, while those really involved in large-scale bribes won’t ever be punished,” Yakubovskiy predicted.
Tarasova said the witch-hunt has already started. About a month ago, police arrested a Mykolayiv judge after setting him up in Odesa. Police allegedly sent a client with an offer of money in exchange for a favorable ruling. When the client tried to pass the cash, police arrested the judge. Apart from framing the judge, Tarasova said police brutally beat him during interrogations. He suffered a brain concussion and several fractured bones, she added.
Experts agreed that more severe punishment is no replacement for the deep overhaul that the judicial system needs to combat corruption. Many lawyers and others believe judges should be elected. People should also be able to recall a judge that loses public trust. Currently, judges are appointed by the president for five year terms, after which they can earn life terms upon parliamentary approval.
Montyan said judges should also be able to elect heads of courts and their deputies. Currently, they’re also appointed by the president at the Supreme Court’s recommendation.
Creating a public online register of rulings would also help. “If it’s possible to find any judge’s decision online, corruption will disappear,” Montyan said.
Serhiy Kivalov, head of parliament’s justice committee, did not vote for the new law. To eliminate bribes in the country, he said Ukraine needs to “create conditions for judges to live fairly.” Currently, a starting monthly salary for judges is about Hr 2,500, or just over $300.
Salaries need to be increased to realistic levels, Kivalov said, adding: “Their work-related expenditures are significantly higher” than current salaries. During 2004 Orange revolution Kivalov was the head of Central Election Committee responsible for counting votes, and was suspected to be involved in president elections fraud.
