On February 27, 2023, the HCJ discussed a report on some aspects of the role of councils for the judiciary in disciplinary proceedings against judges and observance of the right to a fair trial, prepared within the framework of the project “Ensuring the effective implementation of the right to a fair trial (Article 6 of the ECHR) in Ukraine”. The project is being implemented by the Directorate of Programme Co-ordination of the Council of Europe.
The Chairman of the HCJ Hryhorii Usyk stressed the importance of consistent long-term support of the Council of Europe in the implementation of the best European standards in the Ukrainian judicial system.
The Council of Europe international expert Lorena Bachmaier in presenting the report noted that in order to implement it, she studied the practice in such European states as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia, since justice councils work in these countries as a body of judicial governance, and they are authorized to carry out disciplinary proceedings against judges.
The HCJ dismissed 12 judges on general grounds
On February 28, 2023 the HCJ decided to dismiss under submission of applications for resignation:
- Hlukhanchuk Oleh Vasyliovych — from the office of judge of the Odesa circuit administrative court;
- Pashkina Svitlana Anatoliivna — form the office of judge of the Northern economic court of appeal;
- Habriiel Viktor Oleksandrovych — from the office of judge of the Kyiv Court of Appeal;
- Semyzhenko Hennadii Volodymyrovych — from the office of judge of the Kherson court of appeal;
- Humeniuk Vasyl Ivanovych — from th office of judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.
In addition, the HCJ decided to dismiss Sevastianenko Kateryna Oleksandrivna from office of the Kharkiv circuit administrative court under submission of application for dismissal on free will.
On March 2, 2023 the HCJ decided to dismiss six judges under submission of applications for resignation.
Dmytro Lukianov was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the HCJ
On February 28, 2023, the HCJ member Dmytro Lukianov, was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Council. On August 19, 2022, Dmytro Lukianov was elected to the position of a member of the HCJ by the Congress of Representatives of Higher Education and Research Institutions in the Area of Law.
All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors elected two members of the High Council of Justice
On February 28, 2023, by the decision of the All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors, Oleksii Melnyk and Oleh Kandziuba were elected as members of the HCJ for a term of four years.
Judges who have expressed the wish to be seconded to the Mariinskyi district court of Donetsk region should submit necessary documents to the HCJ by March 10, 2023. The list of the documents is here.
The HCJ approved the advisory opinion on the draft Law of Ukraine “On making amendments to the Code of the Administrative Procedure of Ukraine, the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Economic Procedure Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts regarding the implementation of the judicial proceedings under the conditions of martial law or a state of emergency and the settlement of the disputes with the participation of a judge” (registration No. 8358).
The opinion states that the changes proposed by the draft law are necessary for the state to implement its duty to ensure everyone the right to judicial protection in conditions of war or a state of emergency, those will eliminate the risks of lengthy consideration of court cases and ensure timely resolution of disputes by the court. At the same time, it is indicated that some provisions of the draft law need to be finalized, taking into account the comments and reservations made in the opinion. In particular, the proposals of the HCJ related to amendments that provide for consideration of the case on the merits outside the time limits determined by the procedural codes; regarding the grounds, procedure, term for conducting a dispute resolution procedure with the participation of a judge and terminating such a procedure; regarding the recording of a court session in writing in the minutes or by other technical means that allow sound or video recording; closing information about the date, time and place of a preparatory meeting on the information portal of the judiciary and in the URPI.
Taking into account continued objective security threats and due to impossibility of resuming the territorial jurisdiction of court cases of the Kherson Court of Appeal, Bilozerskyi, Velykooleksandrivskyi, Novovorontsovskyi district courts of Kherson region from March 1, 2023, the HCJ decided to postpone until April 1, 2023 the territorial jurisdiction of court cases of these courts and changes in the territorial jurisdiction of court cases of courts of the Kherson region.
The Odesa Court of Appeal, the Kyivskyi, Malynovskyi, Prymorskyi, Suvorovskyi district courts of the city of Odesa, the Biliaivskyi, Kominternivskyi district courts of Odesa region, the Teplodarskyi local court of Odesa region will continue consideration of transferred cases until March 31, 2023 inclusive.
The judge of the Shevchenkivskyi district court of the city of Kyiv, Olena Mielieshak, informed the HCJ that during the consideration of the criminal proceedings, the defendant made threats of murder against her.
Therefore, the HCJ decided to address to the Prosecutor General’s Office on providing information on disclosure and investigation of a crime in criminal proceedings, entered to the URPI, on the grounds of a criminal offense under part one of Art. 377 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, based on the facts stated in the report of the judge of the Shevchenkivskyi district court of the city of Kyiv.
The entry into force of amendments to the Regulation on the IJITS has been postponed
The HCJ decided to postpone the entry into force of the norms of Section IV of the Regulation on the procedure for the functioning of certain subsystems (modules) of the Integrated Judicial Information and Telecommunication System.
Procedure of secondment judges to tree courts has begun
According to the decision of the HCJ dated February 28, it was announced the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges, in particular, one judge to the Kotelevskyi district court of Poltava region. Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to mentioned court should submit to the High Council of Justice within ten days (from the date of the announcement of the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges) necessary documents. The list of the documents is here.
According to the decisions of the HCJ dated March 2, it was announced the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization to administer justice, in particular, to the Novozavodskyi district court of the city of Chernihiv – 1 judge; to the Artsyzskyi district court of Odesa region – 1 judge. Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to mentioned court should submit to the High Council of Justice within ten days (from the date of the announcement of the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges) necessary documents. The list of the documents is here.
Independent and fair justice is a common goal of the judicial system bodies and the public
On March 3, 2023, at the initiative of the NGO DEJURE Foundation, a meeting of the HCJ members with representatives of judicial self-government and the public was held. The most urgent issues of the work of the HCJ and the judiciary bodies were discussed.
The purpose of the meeting is to launch a constructive dialogue, establish communication and outline possible areas of cooperation to achieve common goals – ensuring the independence of the judiciary, increasing its authority.