Priority areas of cooperation were discussed during a meeting between the Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk, the members of the High Council of Justice and Oksana Tsymbrivska, the Head of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”, and Olha Sribniak, her deputy and chief expert on judicial reform.
The Chairman of the High Council of Justice, Hryhorii Usyk, noted the significant assistance provided by EU Pravo-Justice Project, particularly, the expert and technical support to the activities of the Selection Commission for the selection of candidates for vacant positions in the service of disciplinary inspectors of the High Council of Justice, the activities of the Ethics Council, as well as in the functioning of various working groups of the HJC, such as the generalisation of disciplinary practice, development of the Unified Indicators for Assessing Integrity and Professional Ethics, and others.
The Chairman of the HJC noted that the support provided by the EU Project was instrumental in preparing for bilateral meetings with the European Commission under the negotiating chapter 23 "Judiciary", as well as in consultations with the European Commission experts regarding the development of a draft Rule of Law Roadmap.
Hryhorii Usyk informed that the High Council of Justice currently consists of 15 members, and there are optimistic expectations regarding the prompt selection of two members of the High Council of Justice under the quota of the President of Ukraine.
The Chairman of the High Council of Justice emphasized the need to hold a competition to fill four vacant positions of disciplinary inspectors who were not elected during last year's competition. After all, the amount of work is very large, as the number of complaints against judges received by the HCJ is increased. In addition, the HCJ has an obligation to review at least 20% of the old cases by the end of 2025.
The HCJ intends to periodically evaluate the performance of the service of disciplinary inspectors and organise training events for disciplinary inspectors.
Hryhorii Usyk also expressed interest in strengthening international cooperation with the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, namely in holding joint roundtables and seminars, as well as in the participation of the Ukrainian High Council of Justice in the General Assembly of the ENJC in 2025, which will take place on 4-6 June 2025 in the Republic of Latvia.
Oksana Tsymbrivska, the Head of the EU Project "Pravo-Justice," noted that the Project highly appreciates the partnership with the High Council of Justice and is proud of the results achieved in cooperation.
She focused that the key activities for the Project are measures aimed at Ukraine's European integration. Namely, the fulfilment by the state of its obligations under the Ukraine Facility Plan, as well as support in implementing measures aimed at implementing the Rule of Law Roadmap.
Oksana Tsymbrivska also informed that the EU Project "Pravo-Justice" will support the activities of the Ethics Council.
She also expressed its readiness to continue supporting the institutional capacity of the service of disciplinary inspectors of the High Council of Justice.
The event was attended by the Deputy Head of the High Council of Justice Oksana Kvasha, the members of the Council Roman Maselko, Oleksii Melnyk, Oleh Kandziuba, Olha Popikova, Olena Kovbii, Tetiana Bondarenko, Yuliia Bokova, Mykola Moroz, and the Head of the Division on International Cooperation and Interaction with Public Authorities of the Secretariat of High Council of Justice Vladyslav Gurtenko.