On June 24 – 25, 2023, an orientation session for the members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine was held in Lviv with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Justice for All Program. The event was attended by leading speakers from the United States of America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Slovak Republic, well-known national experts and coaches, as well as the Head of the Commission’s Secretariat Olena Ponomarenko and the Director of the Judicial Career Department of the Commission’s Secretariat Taras Neshyk.
The purpose of the event is to highlight the institutional role of the Commission, to introduce newly appointed HQCJ members to the work experience of related institutions in other countries, in particular with the standards of selection and qualification evaluation of judges; to identify ways to optimize HQCJ operations regarding strategic planning, performance management, communication, and educational work, automation of processes and professional development; identify the stages of building the institutional capacity of the HQCJ in the future.
In his welcoming speech, the Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov thanked the international community for its support and repeatedly emphasized the importance and relevance of holding such a session, especially in the context of the challenges facing the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine today.
During the two-day training, the participants discussed a number of thematic topics on the Commission’s activities:
- Judicial selection and qualification evaluation;
- Lessons learned in evaluating integrity and professionalism;
- Integrity, professional ethics, and anti-corruption;
- The importance of information technology in the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine;
- The role of the Public Integrity Council in the process of selection and evaluation of judges;
- Cooperation between the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the National School of Judges of Ukraine;
- Internal and external communications;
- Internal rules of operation and regulations of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine;
- Criteria for performance evaluation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine.
In conclusion, the Chairman of the Commission noted the experts’ coverage of the current problems of the country’s judicial system, the opportunity to share their experience and discuss reasonable proposals, and thanked the international partners for the high level of organization of the session.
Reference:
The USAID Justice for All Program has been launched in Ukraine on October 1, 2021, and is implemented to promote the idea of justice for all by strengthening the justice system, justice services, and community involvement to ensure an adequate response to the legal problems and needs of Ukrainian people in Judiciary.
The USAID Justice for All Program is built on the achievements of the USAID New Justice Program and USAID Fair Justice and Ukraine: Rule of Law Projects and uses their achievements to coordinate close cooperation with domestic partners, USAID and US government projects, and other international donor organizations in Ukraine.
