President Viktor Yanukovych is running around the world, touting the independence of Ukraine’s judiciary wherever he goes and whenever he’s asked about the Oct. 11 show-trial conviction of his defeated presidential rival, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The truth about Ukraine’s judiciary is far different from the rosy picture that Yanukovych portrays. The truth is that Ukraine’s judicial system is one of the most corrupt and untransparent in the world – with the administration essentially controlling who comes and goes as judges, and widely believed to be deciding how judges rule in important matters.

There are no jury trials and judicial proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, with prosecutors and police having excessive powers.

It could all get much worse if Yanukovych signs legislation into law passed by parliament that allows court rulings to remain secret. The law would allow the Judges Council of Ukraine and the state court administration to be the gatekeepers and decide which verdicts and rulings will be made public.

Up until now, the online public registry of court decisions was about the only positive feature of the legal system. Far from perfect, since all the names (except those of judges and prosecutors) were redacted, it still is a valuable source of information for the public.

After all, it’s thanks to this database that the country learned that prior to his move to Kyiv and assignment of the Tymoshenko abuse-of-office case, the inexperienced Judge Rodion Kireyev mainly heard low-level street crimes – such as car thefts. His record shows no qualifications to administer justice in arguably one of the nation’s two most important criminal cases.

The other is the ongoing murder trial of former police general Oleksiy Pukach, accused in the Sept. 16, 2000, death of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Typically, Pukach is being tried in secret.

The public register of court decions also helps in researching companies. It’s always good to know the history of a company that you do business with.

Does this new secrecy mean that well-connected corporate raiders can buy a favorable ruling without the targets of their acquisitions being able to defend themselves, let alone know about the ruling until after their property is seized?

What other corrupt “legal” rulings will be hidden by public view because of secrecy? The list of possible crimes that could be sanitized with secret rulings boggles the imagination. Already, too many decisions are made untransparently by powerbrokers and go undisclosed to the public.

This lack of integrity is shameful, and another reason why Ukraine must show respect for European values before Europe shows respect for Ukraine.