USAID/Ukraine requested Democracy International to conduct a midterm evaluation of the Combating Corruption and Strengthening Rule of Law in Ukraine under the Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Plan (UROL/MCC TCP) and the Ukraine Commercial Law Center (CLC) projects.

Corruption is one of the biggest problems facing the judiciary in Ukraine. It allows people with political power to influence disciplinary mechanisms for political purposes as well as for maintaining the system of corruption. USAID/Ukraine, therefore, awarded a task order to identify sources of corruption that can be addressed immediately, conduct public education initiatives focusing on several key areas, train administrative judges, build consensus for the official adoption of the “Concept for the Improvement of the Judiciary,” by major stakeholders, organize public discussions on key concepts and draft laws, and design phase II activities to Chemonics, International.

On Dec. 4th, 2006, the United States and the Government of Ukraine signed the Strategic Objectives Agreement Between the United States of America and the Government of Ukraine to Reduce Corruption in the Public Sector. On May 22nd, USAID/Ukraine issued a task order to UROL/TCP to implement a registry of court decisions, develop and implement a uniform random case assignment system in selected courts, establish an effective and transparent process of judicial appointment and disciplinary procedures, and create an operating system for administrative courts in the regions. Both task orders are scheduled to end in April 2009. This evaluation analyzes the appropriateness, effectiveness, possible improvements, and other factors of the two projects.

Photo Credit: Maxim Massalitin