The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered the Draft Law No. 10246 of 08.07.2019 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine" On the Highest Anti-Corruption Court "(regarding the commencement of the trial)."

As it is stated in the explanatory memorandum, this bill has to ensure a complete, effective and timely trial of criminal proceedings against corruption crimes within a reasonable time, as well as the introduction of clear rules of priority for the transfer of cases to the Court by the defendants in accordance with the principle of legal certainty.

In particular, the document proposes to recast the sub-item "x" of subparagraph 3 of clause 2 of section VI "Final and transitional provisions" of the Law of Ukraine "On the Supreme Anticorruption Court", according to which the jurisdiction of the Supreme Anticorruption Court as the court of the first, appellate instances, investigating judges applies to criminal proceedings, details of which have been included in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations since the day this court began its operation, in addition to criminal proceedings, which pre-trial investigation was carried out or carried out by the National anticorruption bureau of Ukraine and was completed by prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

In addition, it is envisaged that all criminal proceedings will be referred to the Highest Anticorruption Court, the pre-trial investigation of which has been completed by the prosecutors of the SAP and whose trial has not been completed by the courts of the first, appellate courts before the day the Supreme Anticorruption Court began to work.

As it is noted, the adoption of the draft Law of Ukraine will enable to ensure effective judicial proceedings in criminal proceedings on corruption crimes within reasonable time limits and eliminate the risks of excessive pressure on judges of the Supreme Anticorruption Court. As at 17 May 2019, at least 3,592 criminal proceedings should be referred to the Court in accordance with the requirements of the law, 3406 of which are in the courts of first instance, and 186 criminal proceedings in the courts of appellate jurisdiction. In this case, only 169 out of 3,592 criminal proceedings conducted a pre-trial investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

This bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on July 8 and was determined by the President as urgent.