International Monetary Fund criticizes presidential bill on unconstitutional court. This is evidenced by a copy of the letter to the head of the presidential administration, Igor Rainin, published by "European Pravda". According to the document, the IMF welcomes the initiative to establish an Anti-Corruption Court, but the fund has a number of objections regarding the text of Bill 7440. Most of the objections concern the criteria for electing judges of anti-corruption courts, the participation of international experts in the procedure for selecting judges, as well as the jurisdiction of the new court. First of all, the IMF experts demand that the Public Committee of International Experts have a deciding vote when choosing judges for a new court. Now the bill offers international experts the right to only an advisory vote. "If international experts are not given the right to a final decision, the integrity of the judges will be questioned from the very beginning. What is now proposing this bill contradicts the requirements of the Venice Commission on the participation of international experts, "the document says. Also, international experts drew attention to the fact that the bill has a number of rules that call into question the work of the court. Firstly, it does not determine the number of judges of the anti-corruption court, and everything is left to the discretion of the Judicial Administration. The IMF sees this as a field for manipulation and suggests that there should be 50 judges in the anti-corruption court. In addition, the fund draws attention to the fact that Bill 7440 prohibits former law enforcement officers from being judges of the anti-corruption court for 10 years. Also, according to the IMF, the use of a polygraph for judges of an anti-corruption court is excessive and must be eliminated. The third group of IMF requirements concerns the jurisdiction of the anti-corruption court. Initially, it was planned that the Anti-Corruption Court (AC) would consider cases of corruption in which A and B officials are involved, and the bribe amount exceeds 1.6 million UAH. However, the drafters of the bill decided that the anti-corruption judges will review cases on 15 articles of the Criminal Code in terms of abuse of power or official status, illegal enrichment and money laundering. However, the IMF demands to return to the original idea, so that the anti-corruption court would consider cases solely of NABU and SAP. "Such an extension of jurisdiction by criminal articles may lead to clogging of the court's work and to the fact that it will not be able to fulfill its main function - to review the affairs of NABU and SAP," reads the document. Therefore, the IMF recommends that the bill be revised and amended to meet the requirements of the Venice Commission.

Original article: IMF objects to presidential bill on anti-corruption court.