The NACP and the High Council of Justice are consolidating efforts to reduce the level of corruption in the judicial system

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the High Council of Justice (HCJ) concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation, which is a continuation of the previous work of the NACP and the HRC, in particular, regarding the development of the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025 (SACP). The document was signed by acting Head of the NACP, Artem Sytnyk, and Hryhoriy Usyk, Head of HCJ. The newly formed VRP at its first meeting on January 19 of this year considered the draft SACP and generally supported the document, expressing suggestions and comments. Some of the comments were taken into account after a series of consultations. The section of the SACP dealing with anti-corruption policy in the sphere of justice is a practical result of the cooperation of the two institutions for the effective implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy until 2025 and the measures of the SACP. The purpose of the concluded Memorandum is to consolidate the efforts of the parties on the formation and implementation of the state anti-corruption policy, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, its functioning on the basis of responsibility, accountability to society, the formation of an honest and highly professional corps of judges, etc. "The situation with the detention of the former Head of the Supreme Court and the corresponding position and reaction of the Supreme Court once again proved the extremely important role of the Council in reducing the level of corruption in the judicial system. Strengthening the cooperation of the NACP and HCJ will contribute to the formation of an honest corps of judges and the restoration of public authority and trust in judges. The signed Memorandum is a pre-emptive action to prevent such corruption scandals, which kill confidence in the entire system",- said the Acting Head of the NACP, Artem Sytnyk. He emphasized that the judicial sphere is defined as a priority for reform in the Anti-Corruption Strategy and SACP, and the completion of the judicial reform is one of the seven conditions for the start of negotiations on EU membership. The SACP provides safeguards against existing corruption risks in the judicial sphere. In particular, it is planned to carry out an independent assessment of the integrity of new and current members of the HCJ, the development of clear criteria for the integrity and professional ethics of a judge, a candidate for the position of a judge taking into account the professional profile of a judge, professional ethics for the qualification assessment of judges, etc. "We are doing a common thing. Implementation of the SACP will have an extremely positive impact on the work of the judicial system and confidence in it. HCJ makes maximum efforts to strengthen the independence and sovereignty of the judicial branch of government in Ukraine. The restoration of the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine on June 1 is a powerful step that directly affects the prospects of Ukraine's membership in the EU, makes it possible to complete the qualification assessment of judges and opens the possibility for the selection of judges for more than two thousand vacant positions", - stressed the Head of the HCJ Hryhoriy Usyk. He noted that for the selection of judges, it is extremely important to resume the verification of declarations carried out by the NACP, which was stopped with the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia. Therefore, the HCJ is interested in restoring the mandatory declaration and verification of declarations of public servants as soon as possible. The Memorandum also provides for the development and implementation of joint mechanisms and measures to ensure compliance with legislation in the field of corruption prevention; promoting the improvement of accounting mechanisms and the generalization of judicial statistics regarding the fight against corruption based on international standards; access and exchange of information, etc.