Court's head: Given positions of defendants, it's obvious that political affiliation or status don't affect HACC rulings
Instruments of disciplinary and criminal liability, information attacks and threats are used against judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), but the political affiliation and status of suspects and defendants do not matter when making decisions by the HACC, Head of the court Vira Mykhailenko has said.
In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, answering the question of whether it is possible to talk about the real, and not the declared independence of the HACC judges, Mykhailenko said: "I believe that the independence of the courts in Ukraine is a reality, Ukrainian judges are professional and independent. If you look at the positions of suspects, defendants in criminal and civil cases that are considered by HACC, it is clear that political affiliation, spheres of influence or status do not matter in decision-making."
According to her, when considering cases, judges are guided solely by legal prescriptions in the context of the materials provided by the parties, the application of European standards of justice.
Answering the question about the presence of undue influence or pressure on judges from the authorities, politicians or the public, the HACC head said: "We had different cases - an explosion in the courtyard, the use of tools of disciplinary or criminal liability, information attacks, threats to judges, and others. We mainly associate them with certain industries."
Mykhailenko said judges report real or potential threats to the Prosecutor General's Office and the High Council of Justice. "Individual judges are protected, this is provided for by law," she said.
According to the court's head, public attention is riveted to many processes.
"We observe incorrect statements in the direction of judges or court decisions, attempts to form a 'public opinion' around the need for this or that decision. Is this pressure? Although certain manifestations of behavior are unacceptable, I think we are now at such a stage in the development of democracy and the formation of a national judicial tradition which the judiciary and the public must go through and outgrow together," Mykhailenko said.
