On 13 July 2023, Roman Ihnatov, Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, took part in the XI International Judicial and Legal Forum, organized by the Yurydychna Praktyka Publishing House and the High Council of Justice. The event is attended by representatives of the High Council of Justice, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the Supreme Court, the State Judicial Administration, judges, lawyers and other representatives of the legal community.
On the first day of the Forum, Roman Ignatov thanked the organizers. He believed that the event would be influential and has a positive outcome and that its participants would exchange views and gain new experiences.
He reminded the audience that the Commission has already been established and has started its full work; in particular, it announced the start of the acceptance of documents from NGOs for the formation of the Public Integrity Council. The Commission also began to examine the practical assignments of those who participated in the selection of judges.
“The trials our country has been going through began much earlier than
February 24, 2022,” – Roman Ignatov emphasized.
The Chairman of the HQCJ expressed confidence that we will overcome these challenges, they will only unite us and we will win.
Roman Ignatov, speaking during the session “Wartime Justice” reminded the audience that the Commission had not been working for more than three years.
“Unfortunately, we have inherited a lot of unfinished competitive procedures that need to be carried out, in particular with the participation of the Public Integrity Council, for the formation of which we have already announced the acceptance of documents from public organizations,” – said the HQCJ Chairman.
According to Roman Ihnatov, it is necessary to solve the problem of candidates from the previous HQCJ selections who passed all the procedures but were not appointed as judges by presidential decree since 2016.
There is also an urgent need to hold a competition for the position of an appellate court judge, where the situation with judges is extremely critical, and which results will give us a clear picture of the vacancies in the first-instance courts.
An additional challenge for the Commission is the issue of transferring judges from the occupied territories and reopening courts in the de-occupied territories, including the Kherson City Court. At the same time, not all judges are willing to return to the de-occupied territories, preferring to resign due to security concerns.
The Commission also plans to address the HCJ and SJA shortly to determine the number of judges in local and appellate courts. Currently, the HQCJ only has data for 2019.
In conclusion, the Chairman of the HQCJ emphasized the establishment of communication with judicial governance and self-governing bodies and meetings with international partners, including ambassadors of the G7 countries and international technical assistance projects.
Tomorrow, on July 14, the final day of the forum will be held, in which the Deputy Chairman of the Commission Ruslan Sydorovych will participate. He will speak at the session “Human Resources for Justice”.
