You're reading: Yanukovych signs law that broaden functions of Supreme Court

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law to amend some legislative acts on the consideration of cases by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the presidential press service has reported.

The law, which was approved on October 20, 2011 and signed by the president, considerably extends the powers of the Supreme Court as the state’s supreme judicial body, Head of the Main Office for Judicial System Affairs of the Presidential Administration Andriy Portnov said.

"The amendments that have been introduced to the procedural codes stipulate the right of the Supreme Court to decree new decisions and also the duties of other courts to consider the conclusions of the Supreme Court of Ukraine while resolving similar cases.

Other problematic issues have been resolved, in particular, the procedure for admitting cases for reconsideration by the Supreme Court, and the mechanism for the consideration of criminal cases that haven’t been considered by military courts," Portnov said.

Moreover, the law introduces significant amendments to the organization of the work of the Supreme Court. In particular, they increase the staff of the Supreme Court to 48 judges, and reinstate its separation into judicial chambers to help organize the consideration of cases more efficiently.

The posts of secretaries of judicial chambers, who at the same time are deputy heads of the Supreme Court, are introduced. Posts of first deputy head of the Supreme Court and deputy secretaries of the judicial chambers are also introduced, he added.

"The article of the law on introducing amendments to some legal acts on the consideration of cases of the Supreme Court of Ukraine take into considerations proposals and remarks of bodies of the judicial authorities that were repeatedly the subject of broad discussion.

The amendments will be a significant step on the way to the further improvement of the work of the Ukrainian judicial system. They will resolve the most pressing issues of the organization of the work of the supreme judicial body of Ukraine," the head said.

He pointed out that the signed law takes into consideration the remarks of the European Commission entitled "To Democracy Via Law" (Venice Commission) to reinforce role of the Supreme Court in the system of courts of common jurisdiction. In particular, this concerns increasing the number of judges, the consideration of cases by judicial chambers, and the right of the Supreme Court to make a new judicial decision.