Media: The head of the High Qualification Commission of Judges may have Russian citizenship

The media claim that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) sent a letter to the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU) stating that the head of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Roman Ihnatov has Russian citizenship.

In particular, ZN.UA writes about this with reference to its own sources in the HQCJU and the Supreme Council of Justice (SCJ).

Information about Ihnatovʼs alleged possession of a Russian passport began to spread back in June, when a new member of the HQCJU was appointed, thereby unblocking the bodyʼs work. Then, in an interview, Ihnatov denied that he had Russian citizenship.

He stated that in the 1990s he really studied and worked in Russia, but he only had a passport of a citizen of the USSR, which he received at the age of 16. Ukrainian citizenship was confirmed in July 1996, after returning to his native Luhansk.

Ihnatov emphasized that since that time he had undergone many thorough checks before being appointed to work in the prosecutorʼs office and courts. In particular, the most recent inspections were carried out by the Competition Commission for the selection of members of the HQCJU and SCJ, which completed the selection.

On December 21, the HQCJU confirmed that it had read the information in the letter from the Security Service of Ukraine and the information circulating in the mass media, and also stated that the commission would begin checking this information to confirm or deny Ihnatovʼs Russian citizenship.

• On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Council of Justice appointed 16 new members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, which then unblocked the work of the HQCJU, which had not been working since 2019. On June 6, a judge of the Kyiv Court of Appeals Roman Ihnatov was elected as the head of the HQCJU.
• The Higher Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU) is a body responsible for the formation of the judicial corps. The HQCJU conducts a competition for judges in all courts of Ukraine: checks candidates and conducts exams. The commission consists of sixteen members — they are elected or appointed by the congress of judges, representatives of law schools, lawyers, the ombudsman for human rights, and the head of the state judicial administration.
• The creation of the Supreme Council of Justice and the HQCJU is one of the requirements for starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.