The High Council of Justice (HCJ) has called on MPs to reconsider the key issues of bill No. 5068 on reform of the HCJ regarding the role of international experts in the formation of public agencies of Ukraine.

"The High Council of Justice once again draws the attention of the MPs of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine to the need to revise bill No. 5068 to prevent a constitutional crisis and the collapse of the judiciary," according to the appeal released on the HCJ website on Tuesday.

The HCJ said hat on July 20, the Verkhovna Rada is going to an extraordinary meeting, and the agenda includes the cancellation of the decision on adoption at second reading and bill No. 5068 in general (on amending some laws of Ukraine regarding the procedure for (appointments) to the positions of members of the HCJ and the activities of disciplinary inspectors of the HCJ).

"The amendments proposed by bill No. 5068, which some call 'judicial reform,' in no way solve the current problems and, moreover, do not aim at conceptual changes. The bill provides the function of exercising total control to international experts who will act contrary to the Constitution of Ukraine and perform the function of cleansing the HCJ of its current members and thus usurp the judiciary in the country," the council said in the appeal.

The HCJ is convinced that such a reform "is doomed to failure and will lead to an irrevocable loss of citizens' confidence in the authorities in Ukraine, primarily in the judiciary."

The HCJ also said the bill does not meet Ukraine's obligations to the IMF: "The demand was to reform the HCJ, and not to transfer all power to international relations by disregarding the Constitution, independence and national sovereignty."

In addition, the HCJ draws attention to the fact that the provisions of the bill shift the responsibility for the reform onto foreigners.

"International experts, with all the power vested in them by bill No. 5068, do not bear any responsibility for the decisions taken," the council said in the appeal.

The appeal also states that in reforming the HCJ, the key should be the voice of the subjects of appointment, representatives of judges, lawyers, prosecutors, scientists, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the president of the country.