Western Diplomats Express Concern About Ukraine's Judicial Reforms After Delay

According to RFE/RL, western diplomats have expressed concern over Ukraine’s delay in implementing recently passed judicial legislation that is seen in Washington and Brussels as crucial to improving the nation's rule of law and cleaning up corruption.

Following a meeting on September 16 at President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office in Kyiv with senior members of Ukraine’s parliament and judicial bodies, diplomats from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations and the European Union backed a joint statement demanding judicial reforms move forward.

The G7 diplomats warned against attempts to delay reforms “aimed at strengthening the rule of law, increasing public confidence in the judiciary, attracting foreign investment, and bringing Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic future closer,” according to a copy of the statement distributed by Ukraine’s presidential office.

Ukraine’s parliament in July passed two bills to revamp the nation’s judicial system in a long-awaited move applauded by Washington and Brussels.

The nation's judicial system is plagued by corruption, undermining political and economic progress. Western nations have tied future financial aid to its overhaul.

The legislation calls for the creation of panels to oversee the two bodies responsible for selecting and choosing candidates for judicial vacancies.

The panels would consist of six experts each, including three Ukrainian citizens chosen by the nation’s Council of Judges and three foreigners picked by G7 nations.

Ukraine’s judiciary has opposed the reforms, saying the inclusion of foreign experts in the selection process compromises the nation’s sovereignty. It wants to amend the legislation.

In a move seen as an attempt to delay its implementation, the Council of Judges failed to name three experts for one of the two panels by the September 13 deadline. That prompted Zelenskiy to call the meeting with representatives of the G7 countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said the Council of Judges' refusal to nominate Ukrainian judges to participate in the process “threatens to derail the promise of real judicial reform in Ukraine.”

“We remain firmly committed to assisting in this critical reform so that the people of Ukraine may trust their courts and judges and so that Ukraine can continue on its path toward Euro-Atlantic integration,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.