Its establishment was one of the mandatory conditions for the country to receive the next loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On June 21, 2018, a technical bill "On the formation of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court" ("On the formation of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court") was approved, the adoption of which was necessary to officially launch the procedure for the formation of the court.
The court, which will consist of 35 judges, is to start its activity within a year after the adoption of the Law and will hear cases on corruption offenses investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (i.e., cases involving crimes committed by top officials or cases where the value of the object of the crime or the amount of damage caused by it is 500 or more times higher than the minimum wage for the current year (as of 2018, the said threshold is UAH 1,861,500 - approximately RUB 4.5 million)
The Law, in addition to the powers of the court, establishes the procedure for the selection of judges and requirements for candidates to fill judicial positions. Thus, according to the Law, a candidate for a position must have at least 5 years of experience as a judge, or a degree and work experience in the field of law for at least 7 years, or at least 7 years of experience as an advocate, or a cumulative experience in these types of activities for at least 7 years. At the same time, not all candidates who meet such work experience requirements will be able to become judges in the newly created body. For example, they will not be able to apply for a position in the newly created body.
The selection of judges will be conducted by the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine on a competitive basis. In addition, an auxiliary body, the Public Council of International Experts, which includes representatives of international organizations with which Ukraine "cooperates in the field of preventing and combating corruption in accordance with international treaties", will take part in the selection process. This body is designed to ensure objectivity and impartiality in the selection of candidates for judicial positions. It is worth noting that the inclusion of judges in the first version of the draft law was introduced as early as March 1, 2011.
The first version of the draft law appeared on March 1, but it was criticized by foreign partners as inconsistent with the adopted agreements. After that, about 2000 amendments were made to the draft law. However, the final version of the Law raised questions from the public. Thus, the Law contains provisions stating that appeals in cases of corruption offenses, which were previously decided by courts of general jurisdiction, will be considered by courts of appeal of general jurisdiction instead of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court.
On the eve of the appearance of the anti-corruption court with the participation of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, a thematic "corruption park" was created in Ukraine. Visitors to the park, which opened in the botanical garden of Kiev, will be able to learn about the history of corruption, listen to the experience of fighting corruption in foreign countries, look at the seized from corrupt officials valuables (for example, a tank engine or a 30-kilogram sculpture of a golden eagle made of crystal worth more than €30 thousand) and even conduct a virtual search with the help of a VR-helmet. The park opened on June 1, and its work, as it was announced by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative.
In addition to Ukraine, anti-corruption courts currently exist in more than 20 countries, mostly African or Asian, such as Thailand and Tanzania; a month earlier, a similar court was established in Sri Lanka.
UPD. The court started its work on September 5, 2019. Olena Tanasevich (Olena Tanasevych) became its chairperson.