Anti-Corruption Court

There’s an urgent need to amend the norm of the Law of Ukraine «On the High Anti-Corruption Court»,  providing that appeal courts of general jurisdiction will consider appeals against decisions of the first-instance courts made before The High Anti-Corruption Court  is established.

The G7 Foreign Ministers called on the Ukrainian authorities to create the Anti-Corruption Court in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. This is stated in a joint communique following the meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers in Toronto. The communique was published on April 23, 2018.

It is important to make every effort to ensure the adoption of the Law On the High Anti-Corruption Court by the end of March 2018. It is equally important to take into consideration all the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Only in this case there is a chance to launch this court and give impetus to the continuation of anti-corruption reform by the end of the year. This was emphasized by the Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk at the 14th Annual Ukraine Investor Conference Dragon Capital, which took place on March 1-2, 2018, in Kyiv.

The success of the fight against corruption in Ukraine can be doubled if the Specialized Anti-Corruption Court is established. The later will endure sentences and fair punishment for the top-corrupt officials. This was emphasized by the Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine Artem Sytnyk at the presentation of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2017, held on February 21, 2018, in Kyiv.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) proved to be a truly independent and efficient body. In order to provide the result in its fight against corruption, we should eliminate the obstacles for the implementation of the anti-corruption reform. Namely - the absence of the Anti-Corruption Court, the pressure accompanying every investigation against top corrupt officials, and attempts to limit the NABU's functional independence. This was emphasized by the Mission Chief for Ukraine at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Ron van Rooden during the meeting with the NABU executives on February 14, 2018.

On December 6, 2017, some Members of Parliament (MPs) and politicians spread statements about the need to "establish parliamentary control" over the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). As a mechanism of "control", the representatives of two fractions of ruling coalition proposed the Draft Law that eliminates the guarantees of the NABU independence completely. In particular, the Draft Law simplifies the procedure for dismissal of the NABU Director by establishing the procedure of passing a no-confidence motion against him by a simple majority of votes in the Parliament. Also the same mechanism is proposed for dismissal for the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) who conducts procedural guidance over the NABU investigations.

The delay of the Anti-Corruption Court establishment can result into the whole anti-corruption reform failure. It was stressed by the Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk at the expert discussion «Corruption Perception and Risks Assessment in Judiciary», which took place on September, 2017.

Among 86 criminal proceedings sent by the Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) to courts, 23 decisions were passed only. 17 convictions came into force. It should also be noted that on September 1, 2017, the conviction as of Alihman Akhmedov came into force. Akhmedov was sentenced as an intermediary in proceeding as of the facts of receiving an improper advantage by the judge of the Severodonetsky City Court of Luhansk Region.

Functional independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine is key to progress in the fight against corruption in Ukraine. This was stated by the representatives of International Monetary Fund, Thanos Arvanitis (European Department Deputy Director) and Ron Van Rooden (Chief of the IMF mission to Ukraine).

Thanks to the work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau for the first time in Ukraine more than 100, 000, 000 UAH have already been returned to the state enterprise's accounts. This was underlined by the NABU Director Artem Sytnyk at the meeting with the diplomatic corps.

According to him, today 200 NABU Detectives are investigating more than 215 criminal proceedings and 36 cases are already in court. However, the judges do not hurry to pass sentences.