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2.3 Zelenskiy sets out a strategy for judicial reform
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree on the strategy for the development of the justice system and constitutional justice for 2021-2023 on June 12.
The strategy defines the basic principles and directions of the development of the justice system, taking into account the best international practices, the press service of the President's Office said in a statement.
The document outlines priorities for improving legislation on the judiciary, the status of judges, court proceedings and other institutions of justice, as well as introducing urgent measures to improve the activities of legal institutions.
The document also identifies the problems that need to be solved to further improve the functioning of the judiciary and the administration of justice.
One of the directions of the strategy is to improve access to justice. It is planned to conduct an audit of the local court system in order to identify problems and deficiencies in its functioning. Also, the document aims to strengthen the functional and procedural efficiency of the Supreme Court.
In addition, the necessary resources should be provided to effectively organize the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court that was set up at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) insistence. In particular, these are permanent premises that meet construction requirements and safety standards.
Judicial reform is long overdue in Ukraine. Earlier this year Zelenskiy launched a campaign to get business out of government with his oligarch speech in March, but critics have said the campaign is useless without a parallel effort to break business’ control over the courts.
10 UKRAINE Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com