Ukraine has made an important step on the way to eliminating corruption – Parliament has adopted amendments to the Constitution regarding judicial system, it is said in the statement of representative of the U.S. State Department, Mark Toner, available on the Department’s website.

‘We do congratulate the Ukrainian Rada on the passage today of constitutional amendments and implementing legislation to improve judicial independence, accountability, and efficiency. This is an important step in Ukraine’s fight against corruption and towards fulfilling the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a more open and transparent judiciary that works for all Ukrainians’, - Toner said.

Yesterday, Ukraine’s Parliament passed the judicial reform with 335 votes out of 300 necessary.

Presenting the document for Parliament’s consideration, Deputy Head of President’s Administration, Oleksiy Filatov, noted, that the reform entails three key elements: depoliticizing and independence of judicial power, development of a responsible judicial system and reload of judicial corpus. Filatov explained, that with the reform, political forces will no longer have a chance to exert influence on judicial system, in particular, what concerns appointing, transferring and firing judges: ‘These functions will be laid on a non-political constitutional authority – High Council of Justice’, - Filatov said.