EU ready to help Ukraine reform its judicial system

“We have taken note of President Zelensky's plea to initiate a sweeping judicial reform in Ukraine. We, as the EU, are ready to cooperate and assist in reforming the judicial system in Ukraine,” Maasikas wrote on Twitter.

He added that the European Union is very concerned about the latest ruling by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, as it "put a question mark over Ukraine's fight against corruption and the commitments that Ukraine has taken within the framework of international relations with the European Union."

However, the ambassador praised the urgency with which President Zelensky and the Ukrainian authorities started to tackle the decision of the Constitutional Court and stressed the importance of MPs’ quick actions to find a “sound solution” to this situation.

On October 27, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine that provides for punishment for inaccurate declaration of assets. In particular, the article establishes liability in the form of a fine or imprisonment for the submission by subjects of declaration of deliberately inaccurate information in the asset declarations of persons authorized to perform the functions of the state or local government.

On October 30, Zelensky tabled in the Verkhovna Rada the bill "On Renewal of Confidence in Constitutional Judiciary," which proposes to terminate the powers of judges of the Constitutional Court and declare its ruling on asset declarations "null and void."

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