16 members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine were appointed on June 01, 2023, at the meeting of the High Council of Justice. The resumption of the HQCJ is one of the seven recommendations of the European Commission regarding Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union.
The newly appointed members of the HQCJ are:
- Mykhailo Bohonis
- Liudmyla Volkova
- Vitalii Hatseliuk
- Yaroslav Dukh
- Roman Ihnatov
- Roman Kydysiuk
- Nadiia Kobetska
- Oleh Koliush
- Volodymyr Luhanskyi
- Ruslan Melnyk
- Oleksii Omelyan
- Andrii Pasichnyk
- Roman Sabodash
- Ruslan Sydorovych
- Serhii Chumak
- Halyna Shevchuk
As a reminder, on November 07, 2019, the powers of the previous composition of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine were terminated in connection with the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the Law of Ukraine No. 193-IX of October 16, 2019 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” and Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Activities of Judicial Governance Bodies”.
On August 03, 2021, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyі signed the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” and Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Resumption of the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine” (No. 3711-D). The amendments to the law provided for the holding of a competition for the appointment of members of the Commission.
The competition for the selection of candidates for the positions of members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine began on February 04, 2022, was suspended due to russian military aggression, and resumed on July 15, 2022. A total of 301 lawyers took part in the competition, and 64 candidates were invited to the second stage — interviews, 61 of whom participated. Based on the results of the second stage, a list of 32 winners was formed on March 15, 2023. After that, the High Council of Justice interviewed the winners of the competition and appointed 16 members of the HQCJ.