Reforms in the rule of law sector required for Ukraine's EU accession negotiations are in their final stage, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka said, adding that "sometimes the last mile is the most difficult."
"Similarly, in the area of the rule of law, we are now in the final stage. We do not see a single structural reform that would need to be started from scratch in any area. Across all sectors, we are essentially at the final stage of reform. Sometimes that last mile is the most difficult," he said at the event "Ukraine on the Path to Accession: How to Deliver the Next EU Enlargement" on Monday.
Kachka recalled that Ukraine amended its Constitution regarding the judicial system and adopted all the necessary framework laws governing judicial proceedings, the structure of the judiciary, and related issues.
According to him, a high-quality High Qualification Commission of Judges and High Council of Justice have also been established, while both the quality of judges and the quality of justice have improved.
In particular, Kachka noted that "we have another major piece of news today" regarding a corruption case involving the Supreme Court [the High Anti-Corruption Court approved a plea agreement with the former head of the Supreme Court, resulting in a five-year prison sentence]. According to him, this also demonstrated that Ukraine's anti-corruption system is functioning effectively.
"Everything is working. Both NABU and SAPO are operating effectively. What they are doing today is based on years of reforms, years of creating framework legislation, establishing institutions, training them, overcoming enormous pressure, numerous scandals, and so on. They are working. That is a good thing," the deputy prime minister emphasized.
In Kachka's view, completing the remaining benchmarks within the next few months is achievable.
"Months, not years, is an entirely realistic timeframe, considering how much we have accomplished over the previous years, and especially how much we have achieved during the years of the full-scale war," he said.
