The United States has highlighted the importance of establishing an independent anticorruption court in Ukraine as it called on Kyiv to implement comprehensive reforms and put an end to systematic corruption in the country.
In a statement issued on June 5, the U.S. State Department said, “The establishment of a genuinely independent anticorruption court is the most important, immediate step the government can take to meet those demands and roll back corruption that continues to threaten Ukraine’s national security, prosperity, and democratic development.”
The statement points out that the United States fully supports the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will determine whether a new law establishing the court is consistent with Ukraine’s commitments under its IMF program.
“We agree with the IMF that any legislation establishing an anticorruption court must include a central role for a council of international experts to ensure the selection of qualified judges,” the statement says.
The bill to create an anticorruption court was approved by Ukraine’s parliament in its first reading on March 1, and President Petro Poroshenko said it should win final approval before spring ends.
The legislation has been demanded by protest groups and international institutions that provide Ukraine with financial support.
In March, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told Poroshenko in Kyiv that establishing an independent anticorruption court would "help the business environment and the investment climate.”
However, some reformists in Ukraine and backers in Europe have said the bill in its current form does not meet standards set by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, a group of independent experts in constitutional law, and the requirements of the IMF.
The IMF has called the establishment of an anticorruption court a "benchmark" of Ukraine's progress toward Western legal standards and has said it would help ease the release of its loans in the future.