According to the assessment of the European Commission, Ukraine now fully meets expectations regarding progress in judicial reform. One of the stages of this reform was the restoration of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and the renewal of the High Council of Justice. Oleksiy Kovalenko, the journalist of the Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America spoke with the head of the High Council of Justice, Hryhoriy Usyk, about the progress of the reform, corruption scandals, the Knyazev case, and staffing shortages in the courts.
The interview edited for clarity and fluency.
Oleksiy Kovalenko: In June of this year, the European Commission published an assessment of Ukrainian reforms. One of the parameters is judicial reform. In your opinion, has Ukraine done its homework in this direction?
Hryhoriy Usyk: I think that Ukraine has successfully completed this task, as in January 2023, a full-fledged composition of the High Council of Justice was formed.
In my opinion, we managed to promptly form the composition of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. Specifically, on June 1st, we established the composition of the High Qualification Commission, and it has already actively started to fulfill its responsibilities.
O.K.: I would like to quote something: "Our important task, the task of all of Ukraine, is to combat corruption and build a strong democratic and powerful state." This is a quote from the former Chairman of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, in an interview with the Voice of America in February this year. The Knyazev case is a blow to the confidence in judicial reform. How will this blow affect the course of judicial reform and Ukraine's European integration?
H.U.: You’ve put it quite accurately that it's a blow for both the judicial system and the country. I would even go further to say that it's a very painful blow. It seems to me that there hasn't been a case like this in the world practice where the head of the Supreme Court was involved in such corrupt actions. This is, of course, a painful blow because Knyazev, as a young reformer, was held in high hopes and expectations by both the judicial community and the government.
I don't believe there should be any disappointment in the fact that judicial reform in Ukraine is not taking place. Regardless of the individual and the position of Knyazev, who was the head of the highest authority - the Supreme Court - it was precisely the anti-corruption bodies and directly the High Council of Justice that approved his detention. Therefore, this is evidence that the reform is taking place.
It's important not to associate Knyazev with the entire judiciary community. There is confidence that we will successfully overcome this. We simply have no other option but to combat this corruption in order to be in the cohort of democratic rule-of-law states in the European Union and the whole world.
O.K.: At the end of June, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to strengthen the responsibility of the Ukrainian judges. Can this increased responsibility prevent new corruption scandals in the courts?
H.U.: An important element of increasing responsibility should primarily be the inevitability of punishment.
Since November 2021, the High Council of Justice was effectively deprived of the authority to perform the disciplinary function. In other words, from 2021, it was impossible to hold a judge accountable through the disciplinary procedure. We have accumulated over 11,000 disciplinary complaints.
This is one of the levers of how the body of judicial governance could independently carry out measures for self-cleansing in the judicial system. This factor of inevitability is more decisive for me than the severity [of punishment].
O.K.: Regarding the election of the new head of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, who is often referred to as a member of the "old guard." was elected. How beneficial is the appointment of a person from the "old guard" from the perspective of European integration, which involves reforms and the renewal of the courts?
H.U.: Considering his professional background and managerial qualities, as he was the Deputy Chairman of the High Specialized Court and the head of the Criminal Court within the Supreme Court, the judges of the Supreme Court probably assessed his professional and managerial qualities first and foremost. We hope, and I am confident, that he will justify such trust.
O.K.: Over the past year and a half, a huge number of new criminal cases related to Russian war crimes have accumulated, and the Prosecutor General's Office has already counted almost 100,000 war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Taking into account these needs, the number of judges is decreasing. Is there a risk of personnel starvation?
H.U.: The staffing shortage is already felt. I would even say that it is approaching a critical point where in some courts, the administration of justice is already stopped. The High Council of Justice is addressing this issue on an emergency basis by temporarily transferring judges from one court to another, particularly where the shortage of judges is most acutely felt. There was no other way to ensure the functioning of the courts.
Voice of America Ukrainian service
Author: Oleksiy Kovalenko