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HOT ANTICORRUPTION NEWS / Issue #139
March 16, 2020
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Today's issue:
- NGO's call to cease contacts with Russian mercenaries and denounce recent Minsk documents;
- in disguise of fighting pandemics, the government suggests dangerous legislative changes;
- Constitutional Court cancels the judicial reform of President Zelenskyi;
- Zelenskyi suggests pseudo-reform of the SBU;
- Rada threatens transparent and fair competition for the position of head of ARMA;
- we are postponing Zero Corruption Conference due to COVID-19 outbreak;
- recommended reading
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NGO's call to cease contacts with Russian mercenaries and denounce recent Minsk documents
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On March 13, media reported on possible agreement for the establishment of an "advisory council", which provided for direct negotiations between Ukraine and the puppet authorities of the occupied territories. Ukrainian NGOs issued a statement calling President Zelenskyi to cease contacts with Russian mercenaries and to negotiate directly with Russia through the mediation of Ukraine’s international partners.
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The same day, the group of Servant of the People MPs appealed to President Zelenskyi to stop implementation of recent agreements signed in Minsk as they legitimize terrorist group and take off responsibility from Russia as an aggressor state. It is yet unclear the number of MPs signing the appeal as the list is constantly updated (some of MPs revoked their signature).
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In disguise of fighting pandemics, the government suggests dangerous legislative changes
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Constitutional Court cancels the judicial reform of President Zelenskyi
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On March 11, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional not only the provisions on downsizing of the number of Supreme Court judges, which have been severely criticised by civil society and international partners, but also some of the most important provisions of the recent judicial reform. It has also ruled unconstitutional progressive provisions on Ethics Commission and HCQJ composition.
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Our detailed analysis of the decision and possible ways forward in reforming judiciary is available here. Please also read the analysis of Roman Kuibida from the CPLR (in Ukrainian).
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Zelenskyi suggests pseudo-reform of the SBU
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On March 11, President Zelenskyi submitted long-awaited draft Law on the SBU reform to the Verkhovna Rada. However, instead of reforming SBU into modern NATO-style security service, the draft law suggests preserving old-style Soviet all-powerful security service with no accountability, transparency and proper civil control. Our analysis of the draft law is available here.
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Rada threatens transparent and fair competition for position of head of ARMA
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On March 12, some MPs from the Servant of the People and the Opposition Platform For Life violated the procedures of the Verkhovna Rafa Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy in order to decide on members of the commission that would select the head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency.
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They selected agreed-in-advance candidates Zakhar Pasechko, Ruslan Sekela and Oleksandr Shadrin. Further information about selection and nominated candidates is available here.
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We are postponing Zero Corruption Conference due to COVID-19 outbreak
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Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, for the sake of the health of our participants and speakers from around the world, we are postponing the Zero Corruption Conference_ for the later period, hopefully autumn. Dates and location will be announced shortly. Once the things get better, prior to the Conference we hope to have a small local event to present the results of the poster competition.
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