On June 16, 2023, the Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov, Deputy Chairman of the Commission Ruslan Sydorovych, and the Head of the Commission’s Secretariat Olena Ponomarenko held an online working meeting with representatives of the European Union “Pravo-Justice” Project. The event, organized for the first time in such a format, was devoted to discussing the priorities and primary needs of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and potential areas of cooperation.
The Chairman of the Commission presented to the Project experts the main priorities for the newly formed HQCJ: establishment of the Public Integrity Council with the purpose of assisting the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in determining the eligibility of a judge (a judicial candidate) in terms of the criteria of professional ethics and integrity for the purpose of qualification evaluation; completion the qualification evaluation of judges whose five-year term of office has expired a long time ago and completion of the qualification evaluation of all other judges. Other priority steps include announcing a new competition for judges in the courts of appeal and holding a competition to the Kyiv City District Administrative Court (KCDAC), which was established under the Law of Ukraine “On Liquidation of District Administrative Court of Kyiv and Establishment of the Kyiv City District Administrative Court” № 2825-IX of December 13, 2022.
In accordance with the Memorandum between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund dated March 24, 2023, another administrative court shall also be established to consider administrative cases against national government agencies (National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), etc.).
The Head of the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project in Ukraine Oksana Tsymbrivska, in her turn, congratulated the participants on the appointment of the HQCJ and noted that the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project, which is being implemented with financial support of the European Union, aims to consolidate pan-European justice reforms and brings together experts from different EU member states. Its main goal is to support national authorities in strengthening the Rule of Law in Ukraine, to support justice system reform in terms of planning, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of implementation, as well as to improve the independence, efficiency, quality, integrity, and transparency of the judiciary and access to a fair trial.
Addressing the Project experts, the Deputy Chairman of the Commission Ruslan Sydorovych expressed hope that the cooperation between the Commission and the Project would be fruitful and effective and emphasized that the Commission faces many challenges: lack of staff and human resources to implement the tasks assigned to the Commission, lack of sufficient funding, and outdated technical equipment. All of this makes it impossible for the Commission to function properly and safely in the current mode, as well as to implement the priority tasks assigned to the Commission by the current legislation.
Chief International Expert of the Project, Head of the Judicial Reform Component Anna Adamska-Gallant confirmed the importance of the priorities outlined by the Commission’s representatives. In particular, Mrs. Adamska-Gallant spoke in support of the prompt establishment of the Public Integrity Council, completion of the evaluation of the so-called “five-year judges” and holding competitions for judges of new administrative courts.
Given the previous joint experience of the Commission and the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project, in particular with the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine”, which preceded the EU “Pravo-Justice Project”, the Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov emphasized the current areas of cooperation, in particular, to provide to the Commission with the necessary support in the future to conducting assessment in frameworks of personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities as part of the qualification evaluation of judges for their compliance with the position held, selection examination and the qualification evaluation of judges in the preparation and conducting of other competitive procedures.
To coordinate common goals, objectives, and activities, the participants agreed to conclude a Memorandum of Cooperation that will consolidate joint efforts and facilitate work to achieve strategic goals in strengthening the Rule of Law.
Additional information on cooperation between the HQCJ and the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project in 2016-2019:
- Within the framework of cooperation with the European Union Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine”, which preceded the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project, in the field of qualification evaluation of judges within the competition to the Supreme Court for 120 vacant positions, the Project supported the testing of 382 candidates to verify personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities; 2 coaching on the analysis of the results of testing of moral and psychological qualities and general abilities by the Commission members.
- The Project supported the Commission in assessing candidates’ personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities as part of the qualification evaluation of judges for their compliance with the position held (999);
- As part of the announced selection for 600 vacant judicial positions in local courts, at the request of the Commission, Project expert S. Mudruk developed an opinion on the “Procedure for Passing the Selection Examination and Methodology for Evaluating its Results”. As part of this process, the Project also ensured the testing of candidates’ moral and psychological qualities.
- As part of the qualification evaluation of judges in preparation for competitions to the High Anti-Corruption Court (27 positions) and the Chamber of Appeal of this court (12 positions), the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project supported the assessment of candidates’ personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities.
- As part of the qualification evaluation of judges in preparation for the competition to the Supreme Court (78 positions), the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project supported the assessment of candidates’ personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities.
- As part of the qualification evaluation of judges in preparation for competitions to the High Court on Intellectual Property (21 positions) and the Chamber of Appeal of this court (9 positions), the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project provided support in assessing the personal moral and psychological qualities and general abilities of candidates, as well as expert support in developing 10 practical tasks based on the specialization of the respective court.