Constitutional Court reject “foreseeably unjust” rulings statute

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled on June 11
that a criminal statute on the responsibility of judges for foreseeably unjust
sentences and rulings is unconstitutional, its press service reported the next
day. The ruling was in response to a complaint filed by 55 MPs who argued that
the term “foreseeably unjust” is subjective and its meaning is not
legislatively defined, thereby not ensuring predictability in the application
of the norm. The statute “should adhere to the requirements of judicial
certainty, clarity, unambiguousness and predictability. Establishing criminal
responsibility for ‘foreseeably unjust’ judicial rulings creates the risk and
opportunity for influencing judges,” the ruling said. The court postponed the
expiration of this statute for six months in order for parliament to draft its
normative base in conformity with the Constitution.

Zenon Zawada: We view a “foreseeably unjust” rulings statute to be a valuable
instrument to discourage corruption among judges. It’s positive for Ukraine’s
rule of law prospects that the Constitutional Court decided to allow MPs six
months to improve its norms rather than reject the statute outright.