Zelenskyy signed the law on declarations of integrity of judges: activists warn of corruption risks

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law on improving the procedure for submitting declarations of integrity and family ties of judges. The relevant information appeared in the card of the bill No. 13165-2 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The parliament emphasizes that the adoption of this document is part of Ukraine’s European integration obligations and the implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission.

The new law provides for the submission of a single unified declaration of integrity and family ties of judges, which, according to the legislators, should simplify the verification procedure.

However, the analytical center DEJURE Foundation stated about the potential corruption risks that the new version of the document may create.

In particular, from now on, candidates for the position of judge will submit declarations of property status for only one year, and not for the entire period of life, as was the case before.

In addition, the period for verifying such declarations is reduced to six months.

Separately, activists draw attention to the norm according to which verification of the facts of possible corruption offenses of a judge is possible only after the court verdict enters into force.

The law also excludes from the verifications the issue of compliance with the legislation on lustration and decisions related to the participants of the Revolution of Dignity.

Another innovation is the ban on verifying information provided by anonymous applicants regarding judges or candidates for positions.

Critics of the document believe that these changes may weaken the mechanisms for cleansing the judicial system and reduce the level of transparency in the selection of judges.