Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says that Ukraine's anti-corruption court will be launched within this year, according to an op-ed published in the "The World in 2018" special edition of the Ukrainian weekly Novoe Vremya and The Economist.
"The revamped supreme court started to work on December 15, 2017. The creation of the anti-corruption court will start during the year. Money for this institution has already been allocated in the budget, but we should go through all the stages of the approval of the law [on the anti-corruption court] and formation of the panel of judges," the president wrote in the op-ed.
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"I particularly emphasize the guarantees of independence of the NABU [National Anti-corruption Bureau]. I consider any form of pressure on this agency unacceptable – both from the side of the political establishment and this agency's support group, which aggressively lobbies lists of 'clients' with politically motivated 'verdicts,'" Poroshenko added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Poroshenko on December 22 tabled a draft law on a higher anti-corruption court to parliament. What is more, he registered a bill in parliament to amend the law on the judicial system and status of judges. Both pieces of legislation were designated as priority ones.
The creation of an anti-corruption court is one of the conditions for further cooperation with Ukraine's key lender, the International Monetary Fund.