On 29 November, 2018, the group international experts from HACC Support Group has presented the Roadmap for the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC). The document was developed with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI) in cooperation with the State Judicial Administration.
The experts have identified seven key priority areas in which the work on the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court will be organized, namely: infrastructure, HR, finance and budget, IT security, court security, сase-flow management, court administration, communications and PR. The document includes a detailed action plan with the crucial steps and responsible authorities in each direction. Currently, the list consists of 5 main stages and provides 53 activities.
One of the key issues the experts have drawn attention to is the security – not only of the court building and the judges, but also of the witnesses in cases of top-corruption. During the event Ales Zalar said that the expert group has already involved two prominent international experts from the United States and Denmark with extensive experience in this area.
Tinatin Goletiani, int'l consultant from HACC support group: This document is a comprehensive plan which includes crucial steps for the establishment of HACC, as well as guiding tool for local & international actors. It includes 5 phases,53 activities & 7 key areas. pic.twitter.com/QFJpyYvYmF
— EUACI (@EUACI_Ukraine) November 29, 2018
Eka Tkeshelashvili, the Head of EUACI, said that the document will be supplemented and modified during its implementation.
Eka .@tkesho3: This roadmap we're presenting is a living document. It was made by #EUACI together w/ int.donors & State Judicial Administration with the aim to establish independent, unbiased High Anti-Corr.Court of Ukraine. Today we open up dialogue & invite everyone 2 cooperate pic.twitter.com/UYiroKUBe2
— EUACI (@EUACI_Ukraine) 29 листопада 2018 р.
At the same time, Zenoviy Kholodnyuk, the Head of the State Judicial Administration, said that there are no obstacles for the creation of the High Anti-Corruption Court now, and thanks to the assistance of the international experts, all technical issues have been handled.
During the event the HACC Support Group was represented by:
- Ales Zalar, former Minister of Justice and acting Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, international consultant
- Herman von Hebel, former Chief Registrar of the International Criminal Court, international consultant
- Tinatin Goletiani, former Director of International Law Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs Georgia, Associate Professor, international consultant.
Ales Zalar, former Minister of Justice & acting Minister of Home Affairs of Republic of Slovenia, int'l consultant from HACC support group: "Ensuring court security is one of the key challenges, so we involved two outstanding international experts - from the USA & Denmark." pic.twitter.com/s1wlA9Fg1g
— EUACI (@EUACI_Ukraine) 29 листопада 2018 р.
After the presentation, representatives of the State Judicial Administration, non-government organizations and embassies had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss with international consultants the process of the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
The Roadmap is available here!
