President Petro Poroshenko said he would submit a new law on Anti-Corruption Court next week. To register a new draft bill, the Ukrainian parliament will have to withdraw two other draft bills rebuked by the Venice Commission.
Transparency International Ukraine welcomed the President’s decision and emphasized that he should not repeat the mistakes of MPs from his own party and follow the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
The European Commission for Democracy through law, or Venice Commission, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe. Its primary task is to provide states with legal advice on legislation.
Two bills were submitted to parliament earlier: No. 6011 (drafted by Oksana Syroyid and Ivan Krulko) and No. 6529 (by Serhiy Alekseyev). Both were criticized by the Venice Commission.
Alekseyev’s bill envisaged the creation of separate chambers, and not a separate court, while the bill by Syroyid and Krulko raised doubts about its compliance with the Constitution and politicized the process of appointing judges, contradicting the principle of independence of the judiciary.
Poroshenko met with Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio on Dec. 15 in Kyiv at the launching ceremony of the new Supreme Court.
The establishment of a new Supreme Court with 120 judges was the culmination of Ukraine’s stab at judicial reform, which officially started in 2016 but had been on the agenda since the independence.
As the author of the legislative change, Poroshenko was accused by civil watchdogs of designing the new judiciary in a way that leaves room for political manipulation. The seemingly transparent selection process has been marred by allegations of backroom decision making and doubts about the integrity of certain candidates.
Poroshenko has already faced negative consequences of delaying the creation of the Anti-Corruption Court.
Kyiv has seen protests since mid-October, with organizers using demands for the Anti-Corruption Court as a cudgel against the Poroshenko administration. Over the past two weeks, the protest’s organizers have begun to hold marches for Poroshenko’s impeachment.
The International Monetary Fund delayed the latest tranche in its $17.5 billion emergency lending program to Ukraine in part over its failure to create an Anti-Corruption Court.
