Anticorruption court draft law: amendments submitted, Venice Commission experts not yet invited

By March 15 MPs submitted proposals for amending the draft law on the anticorruption court for the second reading. At least three factions (Narodnyi Front, Batkivshchyna, Samopomich) and several groups of non-faction MPs offered to introduce veto powers for the Council of International Experts, rejecting the right of the High Qualification Commission of Judges to overrule Council’s negative opinions.

In the meantime, the Head of the Rada Committee on Legal Policy and Justice Ruslan Kniazevych (Poroshenko’s block) failed to invite the Venice Commission experts for participation in development of the draft law following respective offer of the Council of Europe and G7 Ambassadors’ Support Group. Kniazevych claims he will offer the committee to create a working group on the draft law on anticorruption court and this very group may subsequently address the Speaker of the parliament with proposal to invite the Venice Commission experts. However, according to the Rada’s Rules of Procedure respective issue is in the competence of the committee, not its working group.

Moreover, MPs of the Poroshenko’s block sabotage meetings of the committee, as a result the committee have not had quorum for three times in a row. In such a situation, even consideration of the issue of establishment of the working group or invitation of the Venice Commission experts may be postponed for unlimited period of time.  

According to the Rules of Procedure, invitation of the Venice Commission experts may also be initiated by the Speaker of the Parliament.