1. Decrees of the President of Ukraine on appointing judges have been published
The President of Ukraine supported the submissions of the High Council of Justice on appointing judges. By Decrees of the President of Ukraine of December 13, 2021, No.No. 637/2021, 638/2021, 639/2021, 640/2021 10 judges have been appointed, by Decrees of December 16, 2021, No.No. 664/2021 and 665/2021 21 judges have been appointed.
2. “Without a radical solution to the issue of remuneration of court staff, the powerful potential of the judiciary will be lost” – Oleh Prudivus
Representatives of the legislative and executive branches of government must immediately address the issue of raising the level of remuneration of court staff. This was emphasized by HCJ member Oleh Prudivus during the final 2021 meeting of the working group on ensuring adequate funding for the judiciary in Ukraine, formed in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on legal policy. Oleh Prudivus called for the adoption of the draft Law No. 6311 “On making amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” regarding settlement of the issue of remuneration of court employees” as soon as possible, which will allow to reform the salary system. The draft law is aimed at establishing a unified approach to the calculation of the protected components of the salaries of court staff. Proposals to the document were made by the HCJ jointly with the SJA, CJU and supported by the working group.
“The HCJ continues to receive appeals from local and appellate courts on the mass dismissal of employees due to low salaries. We are on the verge of a personnel catastrophe. That is why we call for people’s deputies, representatives of executive power, in particular, the Ministry of Finances of Ukraine, to work more actively to address the issue of increasing the salaries of court staff”, – he noted
3. HCJ addressed the CJU to solve an issue on assigning additional assistants for judges
The HCJ addressed the CJU on assistance in preserving the human resources of court staff. In order to prevent the dismissal of highly professional assistants of judges, the HCJ asks to consider the possibility of passing to decide the meeting of judges on the issue of assigning to a judge who has extra workload, more than one additional assistant. The basis for the request became the letter of the chief judge of the Lubenskyi city district court of Poltava region.
The HCJ considers that the issue of preserving human resources must be addressed systematically, after all, when 30% of vacant judicial positions are filled and judges whose term of office has expired continue to administer justice, there will be an urgent need for highly qualified employees. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep these personnel in the courts.
4. HCJ provided CJU and Ethics Council opinions on candidates for positions of members of the HCJ to be elected by congress of judges
On December 13, 2021, the HCJ secretariat sent to the Council of Judges of Ukraine, and also the Ethics Council copies of opinions on results of special check of candidates to positions of HCJ members, and also copies of opinions on compliance of a candidate and his/her documents with requirements, determined in the Law of Ukraine “On the High Council of Justice”.
According to the requirements of the legislation, the HCJ secretariat sent copies of opinions regarding Fomin V.A., Hrushkovska L.Yu., Kushnir I.V., Shapovalova I.S., Kostenko V.H., Neroda L.M., Mohylnyi O.P., Kaluhina I.O.
Opinions regarding other candidates will be operatively sent to the CJU and the Ethics Council after receiving answers to requests by the results of conducting of a special check.
5. Procedure of secondment judges to four courts has begun
The HCJ, according to the decision of December 14, 2021, No. 2321/0/15-21 announces the beginning of the procedure of secondment of 1 judge to the Artsyskyi district court of Odesa region.
The HCJ, according to decisions of December 16, 2021, No. 2340/0/15-21, No. 2341/0/15-21 and No. 2342/0/15-21 announces the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization for administering justice, namely to: the Vasylkivskyi district court of Dnipropetrovsk region – 1 judge; the Dniprovskyi district court of Kyiv – 3 judges; the Tsentralno-Miskyi district court of Kryvyi Rih of Dnipropetrovsk region – 7 judges.
Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to 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.
6. The term of granting judges’ consent for secondment to three courts has been extended
The HCJ, according to decisions of December 14, 2021, No. 2322/0/15-21 and No. 2323/0/15-21 extended the term for granting judges’ consent for seconding to the Vuhledarskyi city court of Donetsk region and the Lysychanskyi city court of Luhansk region till December 24, 2021.
The HCJ, according to the decision of December 16, 2021, No. 2339/0/15-21 extended the term for granting judges’ consent for seconding to the Luhynskyi district court of Zhytomyr region till December 27, 2021.
Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to mentioned courts must submit to the HCJ necessary documents.
7. Oksana Blazhivska: “The idea of holding a remote congress of judges of Ukraine on personnel issues is premature”
This was emphasized by the HCJ member during the discussion of draft law No.No. 5231, 5231-1 at the extended meeting of the subcommittee on justice issues of the VRU Committee on legal policy.
The draft law No. 5231 suggests to determine: the procedure of holding the congress of judges of Ukraine and decision-making on personnel issues; introduction of a mechanism of remote electronic voting on personnel issues at the congress of judges of Ukraine, in which all current judges will take part; basic rules and procedures for remote electronic voting at the congress of judges of Ukraine. The draft law No. 5231-1, apart from the mentioned, also establishes responsibility for interfering in the free will of judges and ensuring the secrecy of their will.
The HCJ in its advisory opinion did not support the draft laws given the inadmissibility of their provisions. In its opinion, the HCJ noted that provided by draft laws amendments can lead to negative consequences since their provisions do not contain a clear application algorithm, may make it impossible to hold the congress of judges, which, in turn, will stop appointments to the HCJ, Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the CJU.
8. 57 judges took the oath
Judges, who, by the submissions of the HCJ, were appointed to positions by Decrees of the President of Ukraine during April-December 2021, took the oath and acquired powers. The oath-taking ceremony of judges was held in the presence of the President of Ukraine in the Head’s Office on December 14, 2021.
To avoid the collapse of the judiciary, on November 18, 2021, the HCJ jointly with judicial and bar organizations addressed the President of Ukraine and called on publishing relevant decrees on appointment to positions of judges candidates, concerning whom the HCJ made submissions.
On behalf of the HCJ participated acting Chairman of the HCJ Oleksii Malovatskyi, HCJ members Oksana Blazhivska, Serhii Bolotin, Volodymyr Hovorukha, Viktor Hryshchuk, Larysa Ivanova, Nataliia Krasnoshchokova, Inna Plakhtii, Oleh Prudivus, Tetiana Rozvaliaieva, Vitalii Salikhov, Larysa Shvetsova, Svitlana Shelest.
9. “Judiciary must believe in itself” – Oleksii Malovatskyi
This was emphasized by the acting Chairman of the HCJ Oleksii Malovatskyi in an exclusive interview to the “Apostrof” edition. Answering the journalist's questions about the steps that need to be taken to make Ukrainians trust the judiciary more, the acting Chairman of the HCJ noted: “First, the judiciary must believe in itself. However, this cannot be done until it is truly independent. At present, it is constantly being exchanged for some political priorities. Secondly, it needs to be strengthened by involving young and ambitious professionals. The system dies when there is no new influx of personnel”. Oleksii Malovatskyi noted that judges' decisions are often unfairly criticized because a certain legal regulation does not provide the possibility of another decision. “Judges who want to advance in their careers need to constantly improve their professional skills and improve their knowledge by taking appropriate tests and exams. In addition, I would suggest introducing a strict specialization for judges in court cases”, – resumed Oleksii Malovatskyi.
10. Tetiana Rozvaliaieva at the meeting of the subcommittee on justice issues presented an advisory opinion on draft law No. 6049
HCJ member Tetiana Rozvaliaieva at the extended meeting of the subcommittee on justice issues of the VRU Committee on legal policy presented an advisory opinion concerning draft law No. 6049.
The draft law No. 6049 suggests temporarily, until the end by the HQCJU of the competition for vacant positions of judges of appellate courts, announced on August 9, 2019, grant the HCJ powers to second judges of local, appellate court or the Supreme Court to the appellate court of the same specialization for the term of one year. Besides, it is provided that in case of loss by the HCJ of authority, this function will conduct the Council of Judges of Ukraine.
The secondment of a judge of a local court by transferring to the position of a judge of the appellate court, that is the court of higher level, by the rules of this draft law, will contradict requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On the judiciary and the status of judges”, as it requests passing of relevant competition procedures, and will break the principle of unity in formation of judicial career, according to which, the promotion of a judge should be based on an objective assessment of the candidate's integrity and independence of his/her decisions, professional competence, experience, etc., and cannot be supported in this part by the HCJ.
Tetiana Rozvaliaieva informed that according to the HCJ, the measures proposed by the draft law can be supported in case of taking into account of expressed by HCJ comments and warnings.
11. HCJ addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office on checking the circumstances, notified by a judge of the Bohunskyi district court of Zhytomyr
Judge of the Bohunskyi district court of Zhytomyr Halyna Panchenko notified the HCJ on interference in her activity. Namely, concerning administering justice during the consideration of the case on administrative offense.
The HCJ decided to address the Prosecutor General’s Office on providing information regarding disclosure and investigation of a crime in criminal proceedings, entered in the Unified register of pre-trial investigations by the signs of a criminal offense, provided by a part one of Article 376 of the CC of Ukraine by facts, stated in the notification of judge of the Bohunskyi district court of Zhytomyr.
12. Oleksii Malovatskyi: “Access to the profession of judge needs to be simplified”
Currently, there is a problem of staff shortage of judges. Such a situation is occurred not only due to the dysfunctional HQCJU but also because there is a rather long and complicated procedure for selecting judges, which has as many as 15 stages.
In his opinion, it is necessary to:
- simplify access to the profession of a judge;
- reduce the selection process to three stages;
- introduce objective criteria, removing the subjective factor.
“In order to modernize the procedure for selecting judges, such stages are enough: professional ability testing, writing a standard court decision on a computer and dossier evaluation conducted anonymously, and, if necessary, an interview to clarify certain circumstances should be held”, – explained Oleksii Malovatskyi. “As a result, we will get new professional and independent judges”, – emphasized the acting Chairman of the HCJ.
13. HCJ approved redistribution of funds for satisfying of priority needs of courts
The decision concerning the redistribution thanks to the savings of budget allocations will allow directing funds, in particular, to:
- remuneration of court staff,
- purchase of postage stamps,
- payment for utilities,
- elimination of the consequences of the breakthrough of the internal fire water supply system and flooding of the archive premises of the Lozivskyi city district court of Kharkiv region,
- other consumption expenditures,
- as well as for the payment of judges' remuneration in the amount specified by law for judges who actually work.
14. HCJ approved an appeal to the Ministry of Finances of Ukraine regarding redistribution to local and appellate courts of unscheduled revenues from court fees
The HCJ approved the appeal of the SJA to the Ministry of Finances of Ukraine with the submission on redistribution of unscheduled revenues from court fees to direct them to pay salaries to employees of the courts, purchase of postage stamps, payment for utilities and meeting other priority needs in the amount of 189 718,46 UAH and 173 475,6 UAH. After approved decisions, the SJA of Ukraine will be able to appeal to the Ministry of Finances of Ukraine with the relevant appeal.
Given the numerous appeals of court staff and in order to ensure the distribution of budget funds for the payment of salaries to court staff, a significant part of these funds will be used to meet the salaries of this category of employees.
15. Larysa Shvetsova participated in the conference “Ukrainian Advocacy: modern state and development perspective”
HCJ member Larysa Shvetsova dedicated her report at the International scientific and practical conference “Ukrainian Advocacy: modern state and development perspective” to issues on increasing cases of interference in the activities of judges in the administration of justice by lawyers, observance by lawyers of the principle of legality and professional ethics in relations with the court and the activity of the HCJ concerning the protection of judicial independence.
She noted that in 2020 there were 55 cases of interference in the activity of a judge concerning administering justice, in which subjects are lawyers. Also, during 2020 the HCJ has considered 350 notifications (taking into account those received in previous periods). Larysa Shvetsova noted that the most common grounds of addressing the HCJ with notifications on interference in the activity of a judge concerning administering justice – psychological pressure on the judge (sending appeals, complaints, publication and dissemination of inaccurate information, insults and threats in the courtroom, etc.).
According to Larysa Shvetsova, for lawyers in relations with the court, the main thing is to adhere to the principle of legality and professional ethics of lawyers.
16. HCJ provided the CJU and the Ethics Council opinions on candidates for positions of members of the HCJ to be elected by congress of judges
On December 17, 2021, the HCJ secretariat sent to the Council of Judges of Ukraine, and also to the Ethics Council:
- copies of opinions on results of special check of candidates to positions of HCJ members;
- copies of opinions on compliance of a candidate and his/her documents with requirements, determined in the Law of Ukraine “On the High Council of Justice”.
According to the requirements of the legislation, the HCJ secretariat sent copies of opinions regarding Kotubei I.I., Hudyma D.A., Matsiuk Yu.I., Boiko O.Yu., Kruhova S.S., Panasiuk O.S.
17. Oleksii Malovatskyi told about the possibility for representatives of advocacy to be elected to bodies of the justice system
Lawyers may be candidates for filing positions of members of the HQCJU, although there is a number of problematic aspects that need to be addressed.
This was notified by the acting Chairman of the HCJ Oleksii Malovatskyi during his speech at ІІІ International scientific and practical conference “Ukrainian Advocacy: modern state and development perspective”.
He noted that the legislation has changed. New procedures for electing members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the High Council of Justice have been introduced.
“Two new bodies were established. The first one – Selection commission on election new members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the second one – Ethics Council on vetting candidates to the HCJ and current members of the Council. Regarding the first advisory body, it still has not fully functioned, that is why the resumption of work of the HQCJU – is a matter of perspective. There is no understanding yet when it will be resolved”, – said Oleksii Malovatskyi.
He emphasized that the HQCJU is a judicial governance body. Also, according to European standards and recommendations of the Consultative Council of European Judges, the majority of it should be judges. At the same time, this does not deprive lawyers of the opportunity to run for positions of members of the HQCJU.