On 7 May 2019 in Kyiv, during their first general meeting, judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) elected the Court’s Head. Based on the secret ballot vote, the judges selected Olena Tanasevych, who had served as a judge at the Pecheneh District Court in Kharkiv region since 2012.
Yevghen Kruk was elected as the Deputy Head of HACC. An experienced lawyer, Kruk worked as the Head of Department of international, private and financial law at a lawyers’ association in 2011-2019.
In addition, the judges appointed Andriy Bitsiuk, Volodymyr Voronko, Vira Mykhaylenko, Nataliya Movchan, Oksana Oliynyk and Olha Salandiak as the investigating judges.
5 September 2019 was set as the date for the official start of HACC operations.
“We are starting work at a fundamentally new court for Ukraine and realize full well all the responsibility placed on us by the Ukrainian society. We are ready to structure our operations according to the highest European standards and with consideration for the best international practices,” HACC Head Olena Tanasevych noted.
“We are thankful to all international partners, including the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, the US Embassy in Ukraine and others for their support and assistance in launching the court’s operations,” Tanasevych added.
The High Anti-Corruption Court was created according to the Law of Ukraine “On the High Anti-Corruption Court”. The open multi-stage selection process for the positions of HACC judges lasted from August 2018 to March 2019.
Civil society organizations, the Public Council of International Experts and the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine tested the candidates and verified their compliance with the qualification requirements, including professionalism and integrity. As a result, the Supreme Council of Judges upheld, and the President of Ukraine signed the Decree appointing 38 judges with judicial, legal and academic backgrounds. The HACC is comprised of the Court consisting of 27 judges and the Appeal Chamber consisting of 11 judges.
