A number of experts presented to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday a bill on the anti-corruption court, which takes into account the recommendations of OSCE experts and the conclusions of the Venice Commission. The document will be sent to the Verkhovna Rada.

According to the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state, the founder of the Innovation and Development Foundation, Giorgi Vashadze, said at this meeting that the bill on the anti-corruption court includes the best international practice in various countries, recommendations of OSCE experts and the conclusions of the Venice Commission.

"We have experience in working on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is still a positive example in the international community and has proved its effectiveness. We will clearly use the practice that we had at that time," he said.

Scientist and OSCE expert Anatoliy Zayets, in turn, said that the draft law had been worked out on the basis of a concept that was developed by experts under the auspices of the OSCE, after a careful selection of respective specialists. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the level of the bill is high and "helps conduct a professional discussion in the Verkhovna Rada."

Poroshenko said at a meeting with experts that in 2016-2017, the bodies of the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the National Police handed over about 5,000 anti-corruption cases to the courts. However, it is important that these cases be investigated by "a fair, independent, and objective Ukrainian court," he said.

According to Poroshenko, the measure of effectiveness should not be the number of opened corruption-related cases, but "the number of verdicts and criminals who should be placed in prison."

The head of state noted that this was a complex issue. "On the one hand, there must be a cleanliness of investigations, professionalism of investigators, absolute de-politicization and objectivity, but on the other hand, an effective struggle for the purification of judges, for the formation of an absolutely new transparent and effective judicial team," Poroshenko said.

He recalled that when adopting the judicial reform a year and a half ago, it was envisaged to create a special anti-corruption court, but for some time the work on this issue was blocked, since bills on anti-corruption courts were already registered in the Verkhovna Rada. The president appealed to experts to take into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission and a bill on the anti-corruption court was drafted.

"As president, I demonstrated political will. We are submitting this [bill]. For me, a key position is to take into account the conclusions of the Venice Commission. We do not allow any political pressure from anyone, and objective legislation should be voted in the Verkhovna Rada as soon as possible," Poroshenko said.