The European Union has not changed its position regarding the need to create an independent anti-corruption court, Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said after a meeting with Head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli.
“Hugues Mingarelli has made it clear today: the European Union has not changed its position concerning the need to create an independent, professional judicial institution to ensure the fight against corruption,” he wrote on Facebook page on July 17.
Yurchyshyn noted that the European counterparts will never agree to the formation of the anti-corruption chambers in the existing courts as an alternative to the anti-corruption court.
In turn, MP Mustafa Nayyem of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, who was also present at the meeting with Mingarelli, noted that the EU clearly understands the difference between an anti-corruption court and an anti-corruption chamber.
“At today’s meeting, Ambassador Mingarelli made it clear: the EU has not changed its position, it clearly understands the difference between an anti-corruption court and a chamber and stands for the establishment of a separate, independent agency with a clear and transparent procedure for recruiting judges,” the lawmaker noted.
Nayyem stressed that the creation of the Anti-Corruption Court (and not the chamber) is stipulated in a memorandum with the IMF signed by Prime Ministers Volodymyr Groysman and Ukraine’s law on the judicial system signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
“In this situation, Jean-Claude Juncker’s promoting the anti-corruption chamber and misleading the public look like outright cheating. I very much hope that Juncker himself will soon clarify this matter,” Nayyem wrote.
As reported on July 13, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU does not insist Ukraine should set up a separate anti-corruption court, but suggests a special anti-corruption chamber created within the Ukrainian judiciary could be enough.
“What we are asking is to increase the fight against corruption because corruption is undermining all the efforts this great nation is undertaking,” he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and EU Council President Donald Tusk in Kyiv on July 13.
“So we were offering to the president this morning, President Tusk and myself, how to deal with this problem when it comes to jurisdictions. Till now the EU was requesting from Ukraine to create a special court in charge of corruption affairs. Now we agreed this morning that if Ukraine would introduce in its judicial system a chamber dedicated to dealing with this that would be sufficient. Not the instruments are important, but the intentions and decisions and the consequences of all this are important,” Juncker said.
