Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada is expected to pass a bill on anti-corruption courts by the middle of June, and such a court is expected to become operative by the end of March 2018, the Ukrainian authorities said in a Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“To ensure that prosecution of acts of corruption by senior officials receives a specialized and prioritized judicial response, we will operationalize the anticorruption court established by the June 2016 Law on the Judiciary, consistent with the European Convention of Human Rights and other standards of the Council of Europe,” the Ukrainian authorities said.
“To this end, by mid-April 2017 we will submit relevant legislation to parliament, and we expect this legislation to be adopted by parliament by mid-June 2017 (a new structural benchmark),” they said.
This legislation will include provisions to ensure budgetary autonomy and adequate security of the anticorruption judiciary framework and establish the selection process for anticorruption judges. Building upon the experience with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office, it is critical that the selection process is seen as independent and trustworthy by the public.
In line with Article 33.2 of the Law on the Judiciary, specific requirements will be introduced in the proposed legislation to ensure that applicants to the position of anticorruption judges are not only of impeccable reputation, and have high professional qualities, but also possess relevant specific skills necessary to adjudicate criminal cases related to corruption.
In this regard, the legislation will set out the procedure, including tests and tasks, for the assessment of the specific professional skills of applicants, which will be based on a transparent evaluation of candidates by the High Qualification Commission of Judges with the support from respected experts with recognized ethical standards and experience in anticorruption prosecution or adjudication, including potential engagement of experts with relevant experience in other countries.
This procedure should be in line with the Ukrainian Constitution and the standards of the Council of Europe. The assessment of high integrity and ethical standards shall be conducted with the participation of the Civic Integrity Council as provided by the Law on the Judiciary. In line with Article 81 of the Law on the Judiciary, this selection process will ensure that for each available position, an applicant of impeccable reputation, relevant specific skills, and high professional qualities is timely selected by the High Qualification Commission of Judges, and presented by the High Council of Justice to the President of Ukraine for appointment by mid-January 2018.
The anti-corruption court will begin its operations by end-March 2018.
