The Agenda for Justice
Ukrainian civil society organizations have united to put their demands for political parties that run for the Verkhovna Rada in the 2019 elections.
We demand establishing justice from the next Ukrainian Parliament.
To provide this, future Members of Parliament should ensure proper reform of the judicial system, prosecutor's office, and police as well as relaunch part of anti-corruption institutions, restore criminal liability for illicit enrichment, and secure the system of the international procurement of medicines.
*In order to see the questions to the parties running for the Parliament, click the arrow.
Illicit enrichment
Questions
Top officials who have been robbing Ukrainians and illegally enriched themselves after the Revolution of Dignity received the "amnesty" after the criminal responsibility for illicit enrichment was recognized unconstitutional in February 2019. Criminal investigations against 65 top officials were closed. Currently, there is no such criminal offence in the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
- Is your political force ready to ensure the inevitability of confiscation of officials' illicit assets and the renewal of criminal responsibility for the illicit enrichment? — Done
- Is your political force ready to ensure proper protection for the whistleblowers of corruption according to requirements of the EU Directive of 16 April 2019? — Partially done
Anti-corruption institutions
Questions
The leadership of some anti-corruption institutions (Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and National Agency on Corruption Prevention) did not demonstrate the results of their work and completely lost the trust of society.
- Are you ready to ensure the dismissal of leadership of the NACP and the SAPO? Are you ready to ensure transparent and independent competition for the selection of the new leadership of these bodies? — Done
- Are you ready to ensure full independence of the SAPO from the Prosecutor General's Office? — Not done yet
- Do you agree that the NACP should be headed by one person? — Done
- Are you ready to guarantee the non-interference in the work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine? — Done
Judicial reform
Questions
The judicial reform, which started after the Revolution of Dignity, did not achieve its goal. The absolute majority of dishonest judges remained on their positions. Credibility of the judiciary is low.
- Will your political force ensure introduction of the mechanisms to review illegal and unmotivated decisions of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) regarding the positive evaluation of dishonest judges? — Not done yet
- How will you ensure the formation of a new composition of the HQCJ and the High Council for Justice (HCJ)? Are you ready to support that at least half of the composition of the HQCJ and the HCJ are civil experts and that members of both institutions are selected with the participation of international experts? — Partially done
- Are you ready to support the establishment of mixed courts for resolving commercial disputes, in which the majority will be independent arbitrators delegated by the business community? — Not done yet
- Are you ready to support the introduction of world standards in law education and access to legal professions (for judges, lawyers, prosecutors)? — Not done yet
Constitutional Court
Questions
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has become the instrument for protection of certain political interests.
- Does your political force support transparent competition for the positions of judges of the Constitutional Court? — Not done yet
Prosecutor's Office, State Bureau of Investigations
and Financial Investigation Service
and Financial Investigation Service
Questions
The reform of the Prosecutor's Office did not ensure its cleaning up. The vast majority of dishonest prosecutors remained at their positions. The Prosecutor's Office is run by politicians instead of specialists. In half a year, leadership of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) proved to be unable to effectively manage the agency.
- Are you ready to support the reload of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors (QDCP) and election of the new body with the participation of the public and international experts? — Not done yet
- Does your political force support transparent competition for the position of Prosecutor general? — Not done yet
- Is your political force in favour of reducing the number of prosecutors? — Done
- Will prosecutors be remunerated for their service sufficiently to prevent being put under pressure through bonuses that depend on their leadership? — Not done yet
- Does your political force support the change in the order of the commission formation for selecting the SBI members and dismissal of the acting "external" SBI commission from the process? — Not done yet
- Does your political force support transferring the right to appoint the SBI Director to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine? — Not done yet
- Is your political force prepared to support re-attestation of all investigating officers in the SBI territorial offices with the possibility of dismissing those who do not pass re-attestation? — Not done yet
- Is your political force in favour of creating the law enforcement body specializing in financial crimes investigations? — In the process
Security Service of Ukraine
Questions
The reform of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) did not take place. The SBU still has functions irrelevant to the work of Security Service. These functions only politicize work of the SBU and turn the body into the instrument of corruption and political pressure, simultaneously discrediting the achievements of the body and wasting resources for fighting the terrorism.
- Does your political force support liquidation of the SBU departments for fight against corruption and protection of state economic interests? — Not done yet
- Does your political force support the deprivation SBU of the function of the pre-trial investigation? — Not done yet
- Do you support significant optimization of the maximum number of employees of the SBU? — Not done yet
- Are you ready to support the transfer of the crimes from the investigative jurisdiction of the SBU to the SBI (after the reform of the latter)? — Not done yet
Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Police
Questions
Internal affairs agencies were not subjected to proper cleaning up. The vast majority of old-system "policemen", even those who did not pass professional exams, were reinstated to their positions through the courts.
- Are you ready to prevent the re-appointment of the current Minister of Internal Affairs? — Not done yet
- Do you support holding the second attempt of attestation of police officers with the participation of representatives of the public? — Not done yet
Anti-corruption Policy
Questions
Ukraine does not have a comprehensive Anti-Corruption Strategy, which would determine tasks and responsibility of the authorities regarding measures within the anti-corruption reform.
- Is your political force ready to support the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2019-2023 by the Parliament? — Not done yet
International Procurement of Medicines
Questions
International procurement of medicines, thanks to which for the first time seriously ill Ukrainians are almost fully provided with high-quality medicines at state expense, are subject to constant attacks and fall under risk of abolition by the pharmaceutical mafia.
- Is your political force ready to support the extension of program of international procurement of medicines? — Done
Which parties have supported the agenda?
We appeal to all political parties taking part in the parliamentary elections to support the Agenda. Below those parties that have already supported us are indicated with colourful logos. The inactive (grey) ones are the logos of those parties, other than pro-Russian ones, who have not yet supported the Agenda for Justice.
Which civil society organizations have put forward these demands?
What's next?
We expect and demand from the parties that have supported our agenda that they will implement these changes once being elected to the Verkhovna Rada.
Any questions and suggestions please write at:
justiceagenda2019@gmail.com
*Web-site "The Agenda to Establish Justice" was conducted by the coalition of public organizations as part of its project implemented under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this "Agenda to Establish Justice" are the sole responsibility of Pact and its implementing partners and do not necessary reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
justiceagenda2019@gmail.com
*Web-site "The Agenda to Establish Justice" was conducted by the coalition of public organizations as part of its project implemented under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this "Agenda to Establish Justice" are the sole responsibility of Pact and its implementing partners and do not necessary reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
