Bail Reform in Ukraine: Transplanting Western Legal Concepts to Post-Soviet Legal Systems

August 1991 saw the break-up of the Soviet Union and the reemergence of Ukraine as an independent European state. 1 It was a time of great euphoria and great expectations, not only in Ukraine, but throughout the New Independent States (NIS) and the world. However, the euphoria was short-lived. The citizens of Ukraine and of all the NIS quickly realized how daunting the task of rebuilding and redesigning their society would be. 2 In 1991, Ukraine inherited the government and institutions of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. While Ukraine quickly revised the names and titles, this effected little substantive change. 3 Eight years after independence, many of these institutions remain intact, and many of the former leaders remain in power and positions of influence. 4 The pace of reform in all sectors of society remains excruciatingly slow. 5 Among the institutions inherited from the Soviet Union was its legal system, complete with all its flaws and idiosyncrasies. The system has proved remarkably resistant to change. As a result, the criminal justice system that operates in Ukraine today is effectively the same one that was developed and used under Soviet rule. 6 A courtroom observer from the early 1980s would notice few differences in the day to day procedures or application of the law today. 7 Like most of its former communist neighbors, Ukraine is committed, at least rhetorically, to recasting itself along democratic lines and to reconstituting its laws to meet international, and more particularly, European standards. Membership in the ...