Rada passes draft law on improving integrity of judges – MP

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted in the first reading a draft law (№13165-2) on amendments to the law "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" and some laws on improving the integrity declarations of judges and family ties of judges, Iryna Gerashchenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction, has said.

"Some 258 people's deputies supported the draft law on improving the procedures for submitting and verifying the integrity declarations of judges," she wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

According to Gerashchenko, the draft law, in particular, proposes to combine the integrity declarations of judges and the declarations of family ties of judges into one document - the declaration of integrity and family ties of judges, as well as to regulate the procedure for verifying the declaration. According to the draft law, the High Qualification Commission of Judges will have the authority to independently set priorities when verifying the declarations of judges.

At the same time, the deputy emphasized that the European Solidarity faction did not vote for the bill.

"Again, a beautiful title and a completely different content... This is about manual control of the courts and the ability to use the verification of declarations as a carrot and stick for so-called correct judicial rulings," the MP said.