On 24th July, 2019, the conference “The New Anti-Corruption Strategy for Ukraine: What Should It Be Like?” was held in Kyiv.
Eka Tkeshelashvili, Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) and Serhiy Derkach, Anti-Corruption Investigation and Prosecution Expert, as well as the representatives of the CSOs, state authorities and other international technical assistance programmes whose work is focused on counteracting and preventing corruption participated in the conference.
Speakers discussed the relevance of the New Anti-Corruption Strategy’s adoption, the State Programme for its implementation, the implementation mechanisms, as well as the importance of ensuring inevitable punishment for corruption crimes and developing zero tolerance to the phenomenon among society.
The conference consisted of 3 panel discussions:
- “Why does Ukraine need the New Anti-Corruption Strategy?”
- “Is it possible to prevent corruption and how can it be done?”
- “Inevitability of punishment as a safeguard against corruption”
Eka Tkeshelashvili commented on the New Anti-Corruption Strategy during the first discussion panel:
«It is important that Anti-Corruption Strategy reflects an actual comprehensive vision as well as political ownership of all key political actors, state agencies, ensuring the whole of the government approach for the implementation. In addition, it is important that civil society is included in the process.
Anti-Corruption Strategy is not a stand-alone policy document, it should enhance structural reforms, including by eliminating obstacles which make their implementation improbable or more difficult. Anti-Corruption Strategy will be more effective if it reflects the proper balance between prevention and fight against corruption. Rule of Law, equal and predictable application of the law, is the key to the effectiveness of preventative measures».
The second discussion panel was dedicated to the dialogue regarding the mechanisms of the development, monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the anti-corruption policy, as well as sector-specific measures aimed at preventing corruption and eliminating corruption risks.
Serhiy Derkach spoke on the EUACI’s priorities at the end of the event:
“Fighting corruption is not the job for a single institution but rather a coordinated interaction of different bodies aimed at achieving a shared result. It’s not just the cooperation of anti-corruption agencies, but also a collaboration between organizations working in other areas, whose joint efforts will help to submit cases to the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). The goal of the EUACI is to make sure this cooperation is productive.”
He also mentioned the project of digital transformation in criminal proceedings scheduled for this year:
“EUACI actively supports the automation of pre-trial investigations of corruption proceedings. We are working on the implementation of the system that will ensure the paperless workflow of investigations of corruption proceedings by transferring it into the e-case management system. This will save resources and time spent on pre-trial investigations and processing of documents, as well as optimise the cooperation of anti-corruption agencies such as NABU, SAPO and HACC.”
