On September 5, the High Anti-Corruption Court launched its work. Who became the judges of this extraordinary institution? What cases they consider and whom they judge? Key facts and answers to the above questions are set forth in the blog of Denys Bugay, Partner of VB Partners.
Why the Court was created and whom does it judge?
The Anti-Corruption Court is considering the cases of corruption and related crimes. Cases with regard to the top officials – the President, deputies, ministers, heads of state authorities, governors, prosecutors, judges, heads of state companies – now under the jurisdiction of the Anti-Corruption court.
The Court consists of 38 judges: 11 of them – Appeals Chamber (considering appeals against the decisions as taken by the first instance courts), 21 judges – first instance, 6 – investigating judges.
The following four instruments should guarantee anticorruption and independence of newly created court:
- complex selection with the assistance of international experts;
- budgetary independence;
- high remuneration of judges;
- unprecedented security measures (where necessary, judges and their family members will be provided with protection, up to temporary residence in a separate secret protected area).
When did the Court start to work?
The Court launched it work on September 5. All the cases, under the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) jurisdiction, regardless of stage and venue of proceedings, automatically submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court, and further procedural actions are possible only in this Court.
Since the abovementioned date (1) all other courts cease to accept motions, indictments, appeals, which fall under the jurisdiction of the High Anti-Corruption Court, (2) pending motions should be submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court, (3) all criminal proceedings, regardless of the stage of consideration, will be referred to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Who could become a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court and how they were selected?
All candidates underwent unprecedented public tests which were lasting six months.
Not only serving judges, but also legal scientists and lawyers, who have had experience of representation in the courts or criminal proceedings for 7 years, were entitled to be judges.
Entry to the competition was closed for former law enforcement and individual government officials, members of the Qualifications Commission for Judges, High Council for Justice, and party leaders.
The persons, wishing to become judges, should have passed: (1) anonymous written testing – verification of theoretical knowledge, (2) anonymous practical task (preparation of a sentence according to the factual allegations, received directly on the test), (3) multilevel psychological testing, (4) interview and analysis of the dossier by members of the Qualifications Commission of Judges and Public Council of International Experts on goodness (morality, honesty, incorruptibility), as well as the availability of knowledge and practical skills.
343 candidates submitted documents for participation in competition. 270 candidates were admitted to the competition (their documents comply with the formal requirements), of whom – 156 people have successfully passed the test, and 113 people have successfully performed practical task.
Regarding 49 candidates of these 113 ones questions arose in view of their goodness and reputation. According to the results of analysis and interviews: 39 persons have stopped participating in the competition, 3 applied for the termination of participation on their own initiative, 7 proved their goodness.
So, 71 candidates were qualified for the final. They were ranked according to the points scored during all stages of the competition. The first 38 of the list became the judges (22 of which earlier worked as judges, 13 were lawyers, and three were scientists).
What is the particularity of selection of judges to this Court?
A key feature of the competition was the participation of the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE). The Council was created on convincing and persistent requests from Western partners of Ukraine, including the IMF.
The PCIE function is to assess the candidate conformity with criteria of goodness as to legality of the sources of property, compliance of living standards of candidate or members of his/her family with declared income. The Council actually had the right of veto in respect of any candidate.
The PCIE operates in the composition of 6 people. All of them are foreigners, with an impeccable reputation who have experience of more than 5 years in the matters related to combatting corruption.
It should be noted that this is an extraordinary approach, when the state allows foreigners to directly affect formation of judicial personnel.
Author: Denys Bugay, attorney-at-law, Partner of VB Partners
