On November 4–7, 2024, a scientific and research workshop was held in Cologne (Federal Republic of Germany) within the framework of the project “E-Justice in Focus: A Comparative Study of Germany and Ukraine”, which was attended by Commission member Ruslan Sydorovych. The event was organized jointly with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy at the scientific base of the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences (University of Technology, Arts, Sciences).
The participants focused on the results of digital justice implementation in Ukraine and Germany. Experts from the EU member states familiarized themselves with the digital solutions implemented by the Commission and offered relevant recommendations for discussion.
Ruslan Sydorovych told the workshop participants that in the context of the military aggression of the russian federation, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine is working to improve competition procedures, in particular, to digitalize them.
Thus, in the autumn of 2023, the Commission adopted a decision to accept documents for participation in the competition for vacant positions of judges in appellate courts exclusively in electronic form. Starting from May 01, 2024, the electronic dossier of a candidate for the position of a judge is maintained in electronic form. The electronic interface of the candidate’s dossier data allows to quickly find the necessary information and analyze it, and can potentially reduce the timeframe for competitive procedures.
The Commission member presented the interface to the audience and familiarized them with the specifics of its use. He also informed about the HQCJ’s plans to launch the first modules of the electronic judicial dossier – tentatively by the end of 2025.
As Ruslan Sydorovych noted, the digitalization of the judiciary in Ukraine, including judicial governance bodies, also has new challenges. In particular, it concerns personal data. Reforming Ukrainian legislation in the context of European integration will obviously also require the implementation of European standards for handling personal data, including the GDPR.
In addition to amending the legislation, it is necessary to provide training for the staff of the judicial administration, especially civil servants. The GDPR standards will have to be taken into account immediately when developing or customizing software as part of the creation of an electronic judicial dossier, each of its modules.
The seminar was also attended by German legal scholars Dr. Simon Heetkamp, Dr. David Stadermann, Dr. Christian Piroutek and others, representatives of the judiciary of Ukraine - judge of the Criminal Cassation Court within the Supreme Court Oleksandra Yanovska and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Court Rasim Babanly, as well as scholars of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Volodymyr Venher, Daria Bohatchuk and Andrii Koshman.