HCJ dismissed 17 judges
17 judges resigned from office:
- Kyryliuk Valentyna Fedorivna – from the office of judge of the Lutskyi city district court of Volyn region;
- Chekh Nataliia Anatoliivna – from the office of judge of the Dniprovskyi district court of Kyiv;
- Shmil Volodymyr Ivanovych – from the office of judge of the Berezhanskyi district court of Ternopil region;
- Shchebuniaieva Lidiia Leonidivna – from the office of judge of the Shevchenkivskyi district court of Kyiv;
- Shchepotkina Valentyna Volodymyrivna and Brytanchuk Volodymyr Vasyliovych – from the office of judges of the Supreme Court;
- Ukrainets Petro Fedorovych – from the office of judge of the Horodotskyi district court of Lviv region;
- Harnyk Liudmyla Leonidivna – from the office of judge of the Northern appellate commercial court;
- Partolina Iryna Prokopivna – from the office of judge of the Novoarkhanhelskyi district court of Kirovohrad region;
- Bolkariova Oksana Viktorivna – from the office of judge of the Novomoskovskyi city district court of Dnipropetrovsk region;
- Mynich Tetiana Ivanivna – from the office of judge of the Zhytomyr court of appeal;
- Rosokha Andrii Volodymyrovych – from the office of judge of the Pervomaiskyi city district court of Kharkiv region;
- Berezhnyi Serhii Dmytrovych – from the office of judge of the Khmelnytskyi court of appeal;
- Kravets Valentyna Arkadiivna – from the office of judge of the Kyiv court of appeal;
- Fartushok Taras Bohdanovych – from the office of judge of the Commercial court of Lviv region;
- Kostiv Mykhailo Vasyliovych – from the office of judge of the Lviv appellate administrative court;
- Tsilenko Valerii Anatoliiovych – from the office of judge of the Commercial court of Poltava region.
CCEJ opinion on the freedom of expression of judges will have wide application
HCJ members Dmytro Lukianov, Oksana Blazhivska, Inna Plakhtii, Oleksandr Sasevych, Vitalii Salikhov, Roman Maselko, Alla Kotelevets, Serhii Burlakov, Oleh Kandziuba participated in the discussion of aspects of implementation of the recommendations from the opinion No. 25 of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCEJ) on the freedom of expression of judges.
The opinion No. 25 was prepared on the basis of previous CCEJ opinions, the CCEJ Magna Charta of judges and relevant documents of the Council of Europe, and it also relies on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and also takes account of the replies of CCJE members to the questionnaire on freedom of expression of judges.
The Opinion addresses the legal and ethical duty of a judge to speak out in order to safeguard the rule of law and democracy at the domestic, but also at the European and international level. The Opinion considers judicial expression that addresses matters of concern for the judiciary, as well as controversial topics of public interest, and examines the judicial restraint that must be exercised. The Opinion intends to give general guidance to judges and a broad framework for an ongoing discussion on which parameters to consider when they exercise their right to freedom of expression.
On April 24, 2023, the presentation of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026) and the first Steering Committee meeting took place.
Measures proposed by the Action Plan are aimed at supporting the reconstruction and economic renewal in Ukraine to strengthen the resilience of Ukrainian institutions, the rule of law and protect the fundamental citizens’ rights.
By participating in the discussion of the main directions of the Action Plan, Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk noted that adoption of this document is the confirmation that Ukraine has proved its commitment to European principles and standards not in words, but by deeds of each Ukrainian who feels him(her)self a part of the great European community.
He also noted that while reforming the judiciary, Ukraine has already taken a significant step to lay the foundations of the justice system based on the rule of law to strengthen judicial independence and accountability.
Secondment procedure of judges to the Novozavodskyi district court of Chernihiv has begun
According to its decisions of April 25, 2023, No. 409/0/15-23 the High Council of Justice announces the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization for administering justice, namely to:
the Novozavodskyi district court of Chernihiv– 4 judges.
Judges, who expressed the wish to be seconded to the mentioned courts, must submit to the HCJ within ten days (from the date of the announcement of the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges) necessary documents.
HCJ will improve the on protecting judicial independence mechanism
A working group on the development and implementation of measures to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice held its first constituent meeting. It was about determining the circle of group participants, establishing optimal forms of interaction.
The working group's activities will be focused on the development of measures to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice and the ways of their implementation, the preparation of proposals for improving the legislation on ensuring the independence of judges, taking into account the need to adapt the national regulatory framework to European standards. Proposals, ideas, and developments will become the basis for making relevant decisions by the HCJ. These measures will contribute to the improvement of the Council's implementation of the competence to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice.
Volodymyr Babenko was dismissed in 2019 from the office of the judge of the court of appeal of Cherkasy region due to his application for resignation. In different periods, he held the positions of deputy chief judge and chief judge of this court.
Volodymyr Babenko is suspected of illegal obstruction of meetings, rallies, street marches and demonstrations, committed by an official; organization and choosing of knowingly illegal detention and home arrest, which caused grave consequences, were committed for mercenary motives by a group of people upon their prior conspiracy; intentional interference into the activity of judges by an official through abuse of office to obtain an unlawful judgment.
Babenko V.M. has been declared and currently continues to be wanted nationally and internationally.
HCJ postponed the resumption of work of courts in Kherson region
On April 27, 2023, the High Council of Justice decided to postpone till June 1, 2023, the resumption of work of the Kherson court of appeal, Bilozerskyi, Velykooleksandrivskyi and Novovorontsovskyi district courts, because of security threats that continue to exist in the Kherson region.
HCJ will cooperate with the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
On April 28, 2023, the Memorandum on Cooperation between the High Council of Justice and the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine was signed.
The subject of the Memorandum is cooperation, exchange of information and experience on the basis of scientific partnership in the format of preparation and implementation of joint national and international, scientific and practical events, projects, programs that will contribute to the effective work of the HCJ, increasing the authority of justice.