An online meeting with experts from the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) was held at the HCJ. The parties during the meeting discussed issues on future cooperation regarding the development and approval of efficient means of judicial administration, norms of personnel, financial, material and technical, and other provision of courts.
HCJ member Serhii Burlakov noted that due to the number of objective and subjective factors, such as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and then the full-scale invasion of a russian aggressor to the territory of Ukraine, the judiciary of Ukraine faces new challenges in the efficient organization of judicial proceedings on all the territory of our state.
Apart from that, there has been a personnel outflow from courts – both judges and court staff which increased the workload of those court employees who continue administering justice.
Serhii Burlakov also informed that the judiciary requires around 14 000 judges to comply with the defined ECHR norms regarding the duration of case consideration. Currently the approved quantity of judges is over 7000, and only around 4500 judges currently administer justice.
The personnel shortage affects the violation of terms for case consideration and, as a result, leads to non-compliance with the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Another issue is the increase of case categories that the judicial system of Ukraine has never faced before, namely the cases connected with war crimes, the status of combatants, establishing the facts of death, and also family, hereditary disputes connected with a large number of deceased Ukrainians. At the same time requirements for the quality of court decisions have been significantly increased.
HCJ member Vitalii Salikhov also turned attention to the unequal workload on different courts, namely: there are courts in some districts that do not have many cases and judges consider them on time, at the same time there are courts in cities with a population of over a million for example, where the workload exceeds the norms in 10–15 times and judges physically cannot prepare the decision on time.
The issues raised are relevant because they relate to judges' disciplinary liability. The High Council of Justice receives a large number of disciplinary complaints regarding judges in the context of consideration of disputes untimely or preparation of the full text of the decision made explained Vitalii Salikhov.
“Our main task – determine the necessary number of judges and court staff taking into account the realities of today and financial resources. We ask international experts to assist us in developing the methodology both for determining the number of judges and court employees and for chronometry of case consideration to have the possibility to respond efficiently to the violation of terms for case consideration when they are unjustified and also to have opportunity to defend the independence of the judiciary when the violation is objective”, – noted Vitalii Salikhov.
The Executive Secretary of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) Muriel Decot assured that the Commission has a number of instruments that provide the opportunity to evaluate the workload of judges and find ways to solve the issues emphasized by the Ukrainian judges.
The parties agreed to form a working group that will include international and national experts who will analyze the developed situation in complex. Separate courts of all instances from different Ukrainian regions with excessive, medium, and low workloads will also be identified, where statistical data on the workload and time spent on consideration of various categories of court cases will be collected.
HCJ members expressed gratitude to the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) for assistance and support in a difficult time for Ukraine.
The meeting that took place on July 1, 2024, was attended by members of the High Council of Justice Serhii Burlakov, Vitalii Salikhov, Inna Plakhtii, representatives of the HCJ Secretariat, judge of the Cassation Criminal Court within the Supreme Court, Ukrainian representative at the CEPEJ Oleksandra Yanovska, Deputy Head of the apparatus of the Supreme Court Rasim Babanly.
From the CEPEJ – Executive Secretary of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) Muriel Decot , her Deputy, responsible for Cooperation, Secretary of the Working group on quality of justice Clémence Bouquemont, Georgia and Ukraine Project Coordinator Jovana Matic.