On June 06, 2024, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine conducted a briefing at which the members of the Commission summarized the results of the first year of work and identified priorities in their activities.
During this period, the Commission held 334 meetings and considered 874 issues (224 – in meetings of the First and Second Chambers; 299 – in panels; 351 – in plenary sessions).
“After reviewing the practical tasks of 368 candidates, approving the rating and reserves for filling vacant positions of judges in local courts, the Commission announced a competition for 560 vacant positions in September 2023. The winners were selected and interviews with them began on January 23, 2024. As a result, 390 candidates were recommended for appointment to the positions of judges (29 to administrative courts, 26 to commercial courts, and 335 to general courts)”, – noted Ruslan Sydorovych.
The Commission also finalized two competitions announced in 2019 (for 35 vacant positions in local courts and 7 positions in courts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions). Based on their results, 21 and 5 candidates were recommended for appointment to the position of judge, as follows.
The HQCJ has formed two subsidiary bodies – the Public Integrity Council (PIC)
(August 14, 2023) and the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE) (April 29, 2024). The resumption of the PIC’s work made it possible to resume the qualification evaluation of judges. The election of the PCIE is an important component of the competition procedure to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Two important competitions launched by the Commission last year are the competition to fill 550 vacant positions of judges in the courts of appeal and the competition to fill 25 vacant positions of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court. The participants are judges, lawyers, academics and individuals with at least 7 years of combined work experience in the field of law.
A total of 2,076 candidates applied for the competition to the courts of appeal. Following the review of the submitted documents, 1840 candidates were admitted to the competition, 203 were rejected, and 33 terminated their participation.
“On June 19, 2024, the Commission plans to schedule the qualification evaluation, determine the order of its stages, approve the regulations on the procedure for passing the qualification exam and the methodology for evaluating candidates, guidelines for evaluating the practical task, and take other necessary actions to conduct the competition”, – said Secretary of the Second Chamber of the HQCJ Serhii Chumak.
The next stage of the competition to the courts of appeal is anonymous testing and completion of a practical task. HQCJ member Nadiia Kobetska spoke about the development of test bases for the qualification exam as part of the competitions to the courts of appeal and the HACC.
“In July, the Commission will publish test tasks in law (basics and answer options). This will put all candidates on an equal footing and facilitate their proper preparation. The Commission is also discussing the issue of publishing the answers to the tests, which will demonstrate the openness of the Commission and its desire to prevent any possible misuse,” – emphasized Nadiia Kobetska.
The second competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) in the history of Ukraine was announced by the Commission on November 23, 2023. On March 1, this year, the Commission started accepting documents from candidates for 25 vacant positions of HACC judges (15 positions of first instance judges and 10 positions of the Appeals Chamber). In total, 238 candidates submitted documents for participation in the competition through the electronic cabinet. Of these, 153 candidates expressed a desire to hold a position in the HACC as a first instance judge, and 85 candidates – in the Appeals Chamber. Based on the results of the document verification, 160 candidates continue to participate in the competition (100 – for the first instance, 60 – for the appeal).
In order to determine whether the candidates for the positions of HACC judges meet the criteria of professional ethics and integrity, the Public Council of International Experts consisting of six foreign legal experts is involved in the work of the Commission.
“The HQCJ realizes how important the HACC plays in the anti-corruption infrastructure. Therefore, the competition to fill 25 vacant positions of HACC judges has been identified as a priority for the Commission, despite the fact that this competition will be held simultaneously with the competition to the appellate courts. Of course, this will require additional resources and organizational and logistical efforts in a time-sensitive environment. At the same time, thanks to fruitful cooperation with international partners, we have already managed to create the prerequisites for an open and transparent competitive selection – to form a new composition of the Public Council of International Experts, which includes specialists with significant professional experience in the anti-corruption field and impeccable business reputation,” – said the Secretary of the First Chamber of the Commission Ruslan Melnyk.
In November 2023, the Commission, together with the PIC, resumed the qualification evaluation of judges for their suitability for the position held. A total of 105 judges passed this procedure, of which 84 were found to be suitable for their positions, and 21 were found to be non-suitable. Two judges refused to pass the qualification evaluation, and the procedure was terminated in relation to 19 judges due to their resignation.
“Due to the interviews with candidates for local courts, the intensity of interviews with judges as part of the qualification evaluation for their suitability for the position has decreased. The Commission plans to complete the evaluation procedure of “five-year judges” in the summer to fill the system with professional and honest judges, which is what society expects from us,” – said Commission member Roman Sabodash.
In order to optimize its activities and efficiently use budgetary resources, the Commission, in particular, introduced the submission of documents for competitions through an electronic system, and on May 01, 2024, an electronic candidate dossier was launched. In the future, this will become the basis for the introduction of an electronic judicial dossier.
