Rada approves bill stipulating creation of anti-corruption court
22 June 2018
Ukraine’s parliament approved on June 21 a bill
stipulating the creation of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). It received
265 votes, compared to a 226-vote minimum needed. The bill sets the legal
groundwork for the HACC after a detailed law outlining the court’s status,
authority and procedure of selecting judges was approved by parliament on June 7
and signed into law by the president.
The June 21 bill’s approval was requested by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde,
who also wanted an amendment to the June 7 legislation that would enable the
HACC to review appeals on already pending cases. The amendment was registered
in parliament on June 14, but has yet to be reviewed by MPs.
Zenon Zawada: With the
June 21 vote, parliament fulfilled just one of the two items of Lagarde’s To Do
list concerning the HACC. While this is a step in the right direction, it’s not
enough for the IMF’s positive decision on releasing the next loan tranche. The
other items on the list – adjusting natural gas prices for households, 2018
budget deficit limits – also must be addressed in the nearest weeks. We are
keeping the IMF deal being completed this summer as our base-case assumption.
