The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed draft law No. 7662 on competitions for positions of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU). This law is one of the requirements of the European Union for the start of accession negotiations.
According to this law, judges of the CCU have the right to be appointed by the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Congress of Judges. All of them hold their own competitions according to their own requirements. The draft law also provides for the creation of an Advisory Group of Experts, which will check all candidates. This group will include three representatives from Ukraine (1 each from the President, the Council and the Congress of Judges) and three international experts.
On December 19, the Venice Commission published an updated opinion on draft law No. 7662. The commissionʼs experts recommended updating the draft law and including one more member in the Advisory Group of Experts. The DEJURE foundation notes that the seventh independent expert will allow to level the political influence on the commission.
The conclusion of the Venice Commission also states that the decisions of the Advisory Group of Experts should be binding. Under no circumstances can a candidate who has not passed such an examination become a judge of the CCU.
- On June 23, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership of the European Union. The European Commission has approved certain conditions that Ukraine must fulfill in order to start official accession negotiations. Ukraine plans to fulfill them by the end of 2022.
- On December 13, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the second reading and as a wholeLaw No. 7662 on competitions for the post of judges of the CCU.