Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that large-scale judicial reform in the country will guarantee the fairness and independence of the courts, the presidential press service has reported.
"The courts are obliged to be honest, and have no right to support any [political] forces, apart from the law and the legitimate interests of our citizens," he said on Tuesday during a swearing-in ceremony of judges appointed to the post for the first time.
Yanukovych said that "the new generation of Ukrainian judges will be full of energy and the desire to defend the law and justice in building a democratic state."
He called on the judges not to yield to attempts to influence their decisions. He also stressed the need to eliminate pressure on and interference in the work of the courts by any branch of power.
Yanukovych said that for this purpose he had tabled in parliament a bill on the judicial system and the status of judges, which was adopted by parliament on July 30.
He said that one of the tasks of judicial reform in Ukraine was bringing the judicial system in Ukraine into line with the standards and regulations of the Council of Europe.
