Lagarde welcomes adoption of law on High Anti-Corruption Court

This is said in the statement upon the telephone conversation of Christine Lagarde with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, published on the IMF website.

 “I am very encouraged by the adoption of the law on the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) by the Ukrainian parliament, which is an important step forward in the authorities’ fight against corruption. The new law paves the way for setting up an independent and strong anti-corruption court that together with existing institutions (NABU and the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office) will contribute to delivering the accountability and justice that the people of Ukraine demand of their public officials,” Lagarde stressed.

She also commended the President of Ukraine for his leadership that enabled the approval of the law, and welcomed his intention to make the court operational by the end of this year

 “We agreed that it is now important for parliament to quickly approve the supplementary law submitted by the President to formally establish the court, as well as the necessary amendments to restore the requirement that the HACC will adjudicate all cases under its jurisdiction, including all appeals of relevant first instance court decisions, as it was in the draft law approved in the first reading,” the IMF Managing Director said.

As noted, Lagarde and Poroshenko agreed to work closely together, including with the Ukrainian government, toward the timely implementation of this and other actions, notably related to gas prices and the budget, that are critical to allow the completion of the pending review under Ukraine’s IMF-supported program.

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