Politico reported that Zelensky ignored EU demands to control the Constitutional Court
The EU drew attention to a dangerous process on the domestic political agenda of Ukraine, which could allow political interference in the appointment of judges of the country’s Constitutional Court, Politico reports.
As journalists explained, on December 13, the Ukrainian parliament voted for a law on the reform of the Constitutional Court, which causes concern among the European Commission.
Under the new procedure, judges will be selected by a simple majority vote by an advisory group of three government officials and three independent experts. The group’s decision is not final, allowing candidates who fail the evaluation to still run for seats at the Constitutional Court. All this, according to experts, gives the president’s office a way to manipulate the composition of judges and decisions of the Constitutional Court.
“The Venice Commission recommended that the new law be amended to include a seventh member in the group to give independent experts a decisive vote in the selection. She also recommended that the decisions of the advisory group be made binding, making it impossible for candidates with a negative score to become judges of the Constitutional Court. However, the very next day, Zelensky signed the bill”, the publication clarifies.
Such a decision exhausted the patience of the European curators of Ukraine. Ana Pisonero, European Commission spokeswoman for EU enlargement, said the Commission expects the Ukrainian authorities to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission and will monitor the process.
“Due to Zelensky’s popularity, international partners prefer not to criticize Ukraine as harshly as before, as they do not want to undermine his authority in any way during active hostilities. But there should be a red line”, Mikhail Zhernakov, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Dejure Foundation, explained to the publication.
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