HOT ANTICORRUPTION NEWS / Issue #128
December 13, 2019
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Today's issue:
- the High Council of Justice nullifies the role of international experts;
- the High Council of Justice refused to dismiss the controversial judge of OASK Yevhen Ablov;
- draft law on SBU reform safeguards the SBU's excessive powers;
- call for applications to participate in Zero Corruption Conference_;
- recommended reading
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The High Council of Justice nullifies the role of international experts
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On December 10, the High Council of Justice approved the rules of procedure on holding the competition to the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ). According to it, the role of international experts in the selection panel of the new HQCJ is completely nullified.
Thereby, the HCJ practically shut the door on the whole judicial reform initiated by the President.
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The HCJ completely neutralizes the role of international experts in the selection panel by its regulation. Instead of selecting truly worthy candidates, the selection panel will have to collect notes in order to prove the candidate’s guilt regarding some violations and to justify his or her low scores.
In return, winners of the competition will be determined not by voting of the selection panel, but by received scores. In the end, even these scores will not have mandatory value for the HCJ, which, according to the rules of procedure, will be able not to appoint shortlisted candidates. Read more here.
As a reminder, the Council of Judges, whom the law tasked to appoint three persons to the selection panel, hasn't yet done it, thought the law came in force on November, 7 and they had plenty of time to do this.
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The High Council of Justice refused to dismiss the controversial judge of OASK Yevhen Ablov
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On December 10, the High Council of Justice, refused to dismiss the odious "Maidan judge" Yevhen Ablov of District Administrative Court of Kyiv (aka OASK). Instead, he was only punished with a severe reprimand for three months. All 13 members of the High Council of Justice voted in favour of the decision.
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It is noteworthy that the decision of the HCJ was adopted on the anniversary of the crackdown on activists of the Maidan in 2013, initiated by Ablov himself. The scandalous judge obliged the riot police forces to disperse activists because they "made obstacles on Khreshchatyk Street". Besides that and numerous other questionable decisions, Yevhen Ablov is part of infamous "OASK tapes", the recordings exposing the corrupt dealings of OASK judges.
OASK instead of commenting the news published quite a brutal rebuttal in the press release accusing activists of slander and "paid" work (see the English translation).
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Draft law on SBU reform safeguards the SBU's excessive powers
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The issue of reform of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is long overdue. It was one of the pre-election slogans of both Volodymyr Zelenskyi during the presidential election and Servant of the People Party during the parliamentary elections. Society and business complain over the pressure and interference from the SBU, experts point to the improper functions and uncertain status of the body, international partners focus on non-compliance with world standards.
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The Service drafted a law that should become a roadmap for reform, and submitted into President's office in late November. However, in reality, it safeguards the SBU’s excessive powers instead of destroying them. In early November, we have already expressed our concerns regarding the draft law. On November, 29, AntAC's Board Member Olena Shcherban prepared the article with a comprehensive analysis of the draft law for Ukrainska Pravda, the English version is available here.
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Call for applications to participate in Zero Corruption Conference_
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On December 9, during the Zero Corruption Evening_, AntAC announced Zero Corruption Conference_, which aims to bring together agents of change from civil society, media, government, law enforcement and judiciary agencies, as well as broader international anti-corruption community. Scheduled for April 25-27, 2020 in Kyiv, and including a visit to Chornobyl, the conference will provide a venue for a high-profile international discussion on issues of corruption and money laundering, and their intersection with global security, environmental and public health challenges. We call on the agents of change to join us! Please register for the conference at zerocc.org
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