Judiciary

The Yanukovych government has made judicial reform one of its top priorities. Much is at stake, as one of the most serious accusations leveled against the administration is that it is using the justice system—and specifically the prosecutor general’s office and the SBU—to punish political opponents. Arguably no other issue has generated as much attention and criticism from inside Ukraine and from the international community than this perception of selective prosecutions, especially against former prime minister Tymoshenko and her associates. The level of concern has led the U.S. and other Western embassies, as well as officials in Brussels, to issue public statements highlighting this issue. Tymoshenko’s is the most prominent case, but charges have been brought against nearly a dozen other top officials from her government, including former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko and Ihor Didenko, the former deputy chief executive of the national energy company, Naftogaz Ukrainy. The charges brought against them, while not inconsequential, are nonetheless seen by many observers as a misuse of the judicial process. This is not to imply that the government and prosecutor general’s office should not vigorously pursue all cases of corruption, or that former senior officials should be immune from fair prosecution. But the authorities have an extra burden to pursue such cases in a credible fashion, something they have failed so far to do. The government and prosecutor’s office, anticipating such criticism, note that more than 350 current officials are being investigated for or charged with corrupt activities. None of these individuals, however, hold enough power or influence to suggest that justice is being pursued fairly and blindly. The highest-ranking official currently under investigation in Kyiv is Bohdan Presner, former deputy minister for environmental protection in Yanukovych’s administration.

Even if it disputes the claims of selective prosecution, the government understands that, at a minimum, it has a perception problem. As one official acknowledged, the judicial powers should not behave the way they have behaved of late. The same official unfavorably compared the situation today to that before the Orange Revolution, and expressed concern that the judicial system agrees to whatever law enforcement agencies request. Indeed, the strong perception among many observers is that the judicial system does not serve as a check or balance against the executive branch. Such concerns are not allayed by comments from the head of the Constitutional Court, who is reported to have said that Yanukovych can always rely on the loyalty of the court, or by a top law enforcement official who said that Yanukovych can count on us...

Поиск по сайту: