Belligerent judges should be paid full judicial remuneration
The High Council of Justice draws attention to the fact that financial guarantees for judges are an invariable constant, a basic component of their independence, an integral element of the status of a judge. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the troops of the aggressor country into Ukraine, many judges of courts of different instances and jurisdictions have come to the defence of our country. During the period of military service, they retain their status, place of work, position. And, as a consequence, in view of this, judicial remuneration should be paid.
According to members of the High Council of Justice, judges in war remain judges with all the constitutional guarantees stipulated by their positions, so they should be paid just a judicial remuneration, and not the monetary allowance of military personnel. The amount of remuneration of a judge is established by the law on the judiciary (Article 130 of the Basic Law of Ukraine).
Relying on the constitutional guarantees of the independence of judges, taking into account the priority of the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine and the relevant Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” over other norms of the legislation, the High Council of Justice considers that judges temporarily relieved of their duties of administering justice in connection with conscription for military service during mobilization, judicial remuneration should be paid in full.
The HCJ notes the need to resolve the issue of ensuring level playing field for all participants in the competition for the selections of candidates for the positions of members of the HQCJ of Ukraine under martial law
On January 9, 2023, it was held a working meeting between members of the High Council of Justice and member of the Selection Commission for the selection of candidates for the positions of members of the HQCJU, during which the Acting Chairman of the HCJ, Vitalii Salikhov, expressed concern about the real possibility to exercise powers in the case of election of candidates for the position of a member of the HQCJ of Ukraine who serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The current legislation lacks a legal mechanism that provides for the possibility of seconding mobilized military personnel to civilian institutions under martial law.
Members of the HCJ and the representative of the Selection Commission expressed their opinion on the need to create a working committee to jointly develop options for legal solution to this problem.
The plenipotentiary composition of the High Council of Justice was resumed
On January 11 and 12, 2023, during the XIX Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine, eight members of the High Council of Justice were elected by secret ballot.
Members of the HCJ are:
- Bokova Yuliia Valeriivna – judge of the Economic court of Donetsk region;
- Bondarenko Tetiana Znamenivna – judge of the Mykolaiv court of appeal;
- Burlakov Serhii Yuriiovych – judge of the Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court;
- Kovbii Olena Vasylivna – judge of Kherson circuit administrative court;
- Kotelevets Alla Viktorivna – judge of the Kharkiv court of appeal;
- Popikova Olha Volodymyrivna– judge of the Northern economic court of appeal;
- Sasevych Oleksandr Mykhailovych – judge of the Lviv circuit administrative court;
- Usyk Hryhorii Ivanovych – judge of the Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court.
Selection Commission made a schedule for an interview for the position of a member of the HQCJ of Ukraine for January 2023
The Selection Commission for the selection of candidates for the position of a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine will conduct the next stage of the competition - interviews with 64 candidates in January and February 2023. The Commission made a schedule of interviews for January 16-25, 2023.
Interviews will be conducted in Ukrainian with simultaneous translation. As it was reported, interviews with candidates will be conducted remotely via ZOOM Platform. According to the requirements of the law, interviews with candidates will be broadcast online on the official YouTube channel of the High Council of Justice and official channels of the Selection Commission – Facebook and YouTube – in Ukrainian and English.
Due to the security situation and power outages in Ukraine, the schedule is subject to change and will be announced. The next interviews are planned for February 2023, the schedule for which will be additionally drawn up by the Selection Commission.