Expert: Public representatives should be involved in formation of anti-corruption court

The public representatives should be involved in formation of the High Anti-Corruption Court so that it could enjoy high level of trust.

Such an opinion was expressed by Roman Kuybida, the judicial expert of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms, Gazeta.ua Ukrainian media outlet reports.

“The High Economic Court, the High Administrative Court and the High Specialized Court for Criminal and Civil Cases, which are offered to be abolished, are the courts of cassation instance. The changes stipulate that there will be only one court of cassation instance – the new Supreme Court. To consider certain categories of cases, such as crimes of corruption or intellectual property crimes, two new courts will be established – the anti-corruption and the patent courts of first instance,” he said.

Judges in the new courts will be appointed on a competitive basis. The public representatives may be involved in a competition, Kuybida said.

“New agencies have been established: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. However, the fight against corruption will end up in the courts. The representatives of the public should be actively involved in monitoring of formation of new courts so that these courts could enjoy high level of trust. It is necessary to control the fairness of the process. The politicians will try to promote their judges. This should be prevented,” he stressed.