Statements of the High Council of Justice undermine the judicial reform - Artem Sytnyk
The public statement made by the High Council of Justice (HCJ) is an attempt to undermine the judicial reform which aims to reinforce the progress in the fight against corruption. This was stressed by the NABU Director Artem Sytnyk.
"The actions made by HCJ are unacceptable. They discredit the judicial reform andin my opinion it is the last chance for Ukraine to make the reforms irreversible," he said at the briefing on January 31, 2017.
Director of the Bureau noted that the Halytsky District Court of Lviv has denied the request filed by the NABU Detectives to arrest the judge of the Solomyansky District Court of Kyiv, which was detained on receiving improper advantage in the amount of 22 thousand USD. The Halytsky District Court of Lviv explained its decision referring to the public statement made by the High Council of Justice.
"For me such a decision is unclear for several reasons. On September 30, 2016, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (in part of justice)” entered into force. And a few days after we arrested the first judge according to the new rules. The court granted the request for his arrest and no one asked for the permission of HCJ.
Later on other law enforcement agencies according to the new Law also did detain judges right at the very moment of committing a crime. But four months later the High Council of Justice suddenly decided to interpret the Law in their own way. I wonder why HCJ said nothing when the Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine just have entered into force, " said Artem Sytnyk.
He underlined that the Explanatory Memorandum on the Law “On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (in part of justice)” clearly stated that the consent of HCJ is not required if the judge was detained right on the very commission or immediately after the commission of a grave or especially grave crime.
"The official interpretation of the Constitution is the authority of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, not the High Council of Justice," said Artem Sytnyk.
It should be reminded that on January 26, 2017, the NABU Detectives jointly with the colleagues from other law enforcement agencies detained a judge of the Solomyansky District Court of Kyiv on receiving improper advantage in the amount of 22 thousand USD. After that the Detectives jointly with the Anti-corruption prosecutors filed a request to the Halytsky District Court of Lviv to choose for a suspect a preventive measure in the form of detention. The court rejected the request. The decision was explained referring to the public statement made by the High Council of Justice.