Ukraine parliament amends constitution to reform judiciary

Ukraine’s parliament voted on June 2 to approve constitutional amendments to restructure the nation’s judiciary with the aim of depoliticization. Among the key reforms were introducing a Higher Judiciary Council to oversee the approval, removal, transfer or prosecution of judges during a two-year transition, during which the president retains much of this authority. Requalification procedures were introduced for many judges, while the procedures to prosecute judges for committing crimes were simplified. The president’s ability to create new courts was eliminated.

These were the first constitutional amendments passed by the Ukrainian government with the goal of Western integration. The amendments were required for EU integration and Western financing and were lauded by Western governments and institutions. Among those expressing their endorsements were U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner, EU Enlargement Commission Johannes Hahn and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, and Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio, whose helped review the legislation as it was drafted.

Critics in Ukraine’s parliament said Ukraine’s constitution forbids amendments during a time of war (no war has been officially declared) and they concentrate more authority with the president. The heads of the Radical Party and Self-Reliance factions stated the vote was a dress rehearsal to for the next vote on constitutional amendments to enable holding local elections in Donbas and establishing de facto autonomy.

Zenon Zawada: Although the IMF has yet to publish its requirements from the Ukrainian government for the next USD 1.7 bln loan tranche (to be considered as early as next month), we are confident these amendments are among them. As a result, Ukraine has taken a major step towards receiving the tranche as early as July.

This vote is a major achievement for the government also because it was doubted among the public whether the president could muster a constitutional majority of 300 votes (335 votes in this case) to approve legislation. This certainly was a dress rehearsal and those factions supporting this vote – the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, the People’s Front, the Opposition Bloc, and a majority of the Fatherland party – as well as the two MP groups, People’s Will and Renaissance, are indeed likely to support the next amendments to hold elections and establish special status of the occupied territories of Donbas.

What this means is that the only visible obstacle to holding the local elections are the extent to which the pro-Russian terrorist groups, and Ukraine’s nationalist paramilitaries, will act to undermine the elections. Both have threatened military action, which we view as possible and worth considering by Western governments. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s current statements opposing an armed OSCE mission could very well be a tactic to improve its hand in the talks, though Russia is unpredictable in this sense, as usual.