In the second reading, the Verkhovna Rada voted for draft law No. 10140-d on amendments to the Law "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" and improvement of judicial career procedures.
Peopleʼs deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote about it.
244 deputies voted for it. This draft law was a recommendation of the European Commission and one of the conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine and the EU regarding Kyiv receiving €18 billion in macro-financial assistance.
In general, the draft law should simplify and speed up the selection to courts of first instance, canceling some stages of selection and re-examination of candidates. It also shortens the training process for future judges (not all candidates will have to go through it). This will make it possible to promptly fill vacant positions and save on the training of those who will not work as judges.
The Higher Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine will have to publish the results of the roll-call vote, the level of importance of the interview in the selection procedure will increase, and judges from the liquidated and reorganized judges will not be able to transfer to another court without completing the qualification assessment.
At the same time, the DEJURE foundation notes some norms that will remain in the draft law, despite the recommendation of international partners to remove them. Including:
- more than 200 appeal judges were removed from qualification evaluation with the participation of the Public Integrity Council;
- the integrity criteria must be approved by the Supreme Council of Justice in consultation with the Supreme Council of Justice, the Public Council of Justice (CJC) and the Council of Judges — this may threaten manipulation by judicial governance bodies;
- formulation of the norm regarding the number of members of the VKKSU, who can overcome the conclusion of the General Administrative Court. The law established that 11 votes of the members of the VKKSU are needed, regardless of the number of active members of the body. Now — two thirds of the appointed members of the VKKSU. This is a legally ambiguous wording;
- The Public Council of Justice will be able to request the postponement of the interview for a judge no more than once. If the VKKSU changes the schedule and appoints judgesʼ interviews in a very short period of time, the council will not have time to analyze the judges, and the qualification assessment may take place without their participation;
- the recommendations of international partners to establish "reasonable doubt" as a standard of qualification assessment are not taken into account.
The Higher Qualification Commission of Judges is a body responsible for the formation of the judicial corps. The Supreme Court of Ukraine conducts a competition for judges in all courts of Ukraine: checks candidates and conducts exams. The commission consists of 16 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 High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges is one of the requirements for starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.
- On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Council of Justice held a vote for new members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges. 16 new members were appointed — there were 32 candidates in total.