Ukraine

As it becomes increasingly clear that Ukraine is likely to lose its eastern territory, Maria Popova, writing in Foreign Affairs, says that a plan to purge Ukraine's judiciary is going to backfire. The judiciary has severe problems with political subservience and corruption, she says. But cleaning up the judiciary through "lustration -- the process of weeding out (and denying future office to) the current judicial leadership" may increase corruption as judges try to protect themselves from being dismissed, Popova says: "The short-term benefits for the government (and for justice) of lustration will become a long-term liability. The thorough purge of the judicial leadership would only remind judges that they can be punished for delivering politically incorrect rulings. Research in Latin American has shown that, when judicial tenure is not guaranteed and each incumbent purges the judiciary after coming to power, judicial independence tends to stay low under democratic and authoritarian governments alike. Lustration could thus harm judicial independence in Ukraine more than it helps."