Judge-rapporteur of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), Ihor Slidenko, says the Court has canceled electronic declaration of assets by officials to safeguard judges from pressure on the part of the executive branch.
The CCU, however, could not separately note the judges' right not to be vetted from that of other categories of officials, RBC Ukraine wrote on October 29, citing Slidenko as saying.
Read alsoConstitutional Court blocking appointment of local election winners – NACPOnly judicial authorities shall have the right to verify legitimacy of judges' assets, the rapporteur said.
"Indeed, it'll be this way for a while, until legislators resolve the issue. In fact, now these norms don't apply to anyone because lawmakers formulated them in such a way that they can't be reviewed separately," said Judge Slidenko.
However, he added, e-declaration of assets remains in place and applies to all persons.
Cancellation of e-declarations in Ukraine: Background
- On October 27, the Constitutional Court ruled on the motion submitted by 47 lawmakers to cancel Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for inaccurate declaration of assets.
- On October 28, pursuant to the ruling, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NACP) shut down public access to the Unified State Register of Declarations.
- The National Anti-corruption Bureau, another anti-graft institution, said that through its scandalous ruling, the CCU destroys the anti-corruption reform.
