Political Points for 6–13 May 2019
Political Points of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform include a weekly expert analysis of the most important processes in Ukraine in areas of constitutionalism, political parties and elections, governance and public administration reform, judiciary, combatting corruption, criminal justice, etc.
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Chairman of the High Anticorruption Court has been elected and the date of commencement of the Court’s work has been determined
1. CPLR expert opinion
On May 7, during the first Congress of Judges of the High Anticorruption Court (hereinafter – the HACC), the Chairman of the HACC was elected and the date of commencement of its operation was determined. Olena Tanasevych, the judge of the first instance was elected to the position of the Chairman and Yevhen Kruk became her deputy. In addition, on the same day, the Congress of Judges of the HACC ruled that the date of commencement of this court’s operation would be September 5, 2019.
2. Respective authorities counter-point/argument
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3. CPLR assessment of the authorities counter-point
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4. Related legislation/instructions which require the authorities act in a certain manner
According to paragraphs 4, 6 of Section VI of the Law “On the High Anticorruption Court”, the day of the commencement of the HACC’ operation is determined by the decision of this court’s congress, which is published on the web-portal of the judiciary and in the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy”.
According to Part 2 of Art. 20 and p.1 Part 2 of Art. 31 of the Law “On the Judicial System and Status of Judges”, the Chairman of the HACC and his/her deputies are elected to their positions by the Congress of judges of the HACC (from among its member judges). At the same time, Article 6 of the Law “On the High Anticorruption Court” stipulates that the Chairman of the HACC may have only one deputy.
5. CPLR expert suggestions on how to fix the problem using the legal instruments available in Ukraine
In order to ensure timely and full-scope launch of the HACC in the shortest possible time, the following conditions should be met:
1) the HACC should be provided with additional (or other, but much larger) premises that would accommodate and ensure the proper functioning of the HACC chambers for the administration of justice in the first instance;
2) all buildings and structures, which accommodate judges and staff of the HACC, and are used for the administration of justice, should be repaired;
3) office furniture, computer, multimedia, copying devices and other equipment and machinery necessary for the proper functioning of this court should be purchased;
4) most positions of the HACC apparatus should be filled (currently only 5 out of 180 positions are filled in the HACC apparatus);
5) all permits and certificates necessary for obtaining access to classified materials by the HACC judges and authorizing them to hold secret investigatory actions should be received;
6) operative and efficient document management system should be implemented, which not only ensures the automated distribution of criminal proceedings and the most convenient and operative exchange of documents and information, but also excludes any possibility of information leakage about the activities of the HACC and its decisions;
7) all necessary measures related to the protection of the HACC premises, judges and their homes should be taken.
In addition, the HACC judges are advised to use their annual leave before 5 September (in particular, in order to solve their own domestic issues), which would ensure the effective functioning of the Court in the second half of 2019.