During 1st half of 2024, 134 judges were dismissed
During January – June 2024 the HCJ made decisions on the dismissal of 134 judges.
119 judges were dismissed on general grounds, in particular:
– 113 judges were dismissed due to the submission of applications for resignation;
– 6 judges of local courts were dismissed due to the submission of applications on their own volition.
On special grounds the High Council of Justice dismissed 15 judges.
During January – June 2024 the HCJ took decisions on making submissions to the President of Ukraine on appointment 357 judges
During six months of 2024, the HCJ took decisions on making submissions to the President of Ukraine on the appointment of 357 judges to local courts, in particular:
- 311 judges — to local general courts;
- 26 judges — to local administrative courts;
- 20 judges — to local commercial courts.
Since the beginning of 2024, the HCJ has considered 125 notifications on interference in the professional activity of judges
During January–June 2024, the HCJ received 133 notifications on interference in the professional activity of judges regarding administering justice and actions that violate the guarantees of judicial independence or undermine the authority of justice. Considering the previously received notifications, the HCJ considered 125 notifications from judges during this year.
By the results of consideration of 52 notifications on interference in the activity of judges regarding administering justice, 51 decisions were made on taking relevant measures.
Having considered 73 notifications from judges, the Council made 18 decisions on approval of 64 opinions of HCJ members on the absence of grounds to take measures to ensure judicial independence and the authority of justice.
The HCJ made 3 decisions by its initiative within its powers on taking measures regarding ensuring judicial independence and the authority of justice.
HCJ will make submissions to the President of Ukraine on appointing 26 judges to local courts
On July 16, 2024, the HCJ decided to make submissions to the President of Ukraine on appointing 13 judges to positions in local courts. The list is at the link.
On July 18, 2024, the HCJ decided to make submissions to the President of Ukraine on appointing 13 judges to positions in local courts. The list is at the link.
During six months of 2024, the HCJ received two requests for granting consent to take a judge into custody
During the 1st half of 2024 the HCJ received 2 requests granting consent to take a judge into custody. By the results of consideration of such requests, the Council made 1 decision on granting consent to take a judge into custody and 1 decision on returning the request on granting consent to take a judge into custody due to its non-compliance with the Law of Ukraine “On the High Council of Justice”.
By the results of consideration of requests from the Prosecutor General’s Office, during the mentioned period the HCJ made:
- 9 decisions on satisfying requests from the Prosecutor General’s Office on temporary suspension of a judge from administering justice due to bringing judge to criminal liability;
- 7 decisions on extension of the term of temporary suspension of a judge from administering justice due to bringing judge to criminal liability;
- 1 decision on returning without consideration the request for extension of the term of temporary suspension of a judge from administering justice.
Two judges resigned
On July 16, 2024, the HCJ decided to dismiss two judges due to their applications for resignation:
Fanda Oksana Mykhailivna – from the office of the judge of the Commercial court of Ivano-Frankivsk region;
Nahorniak Yevhenii Petrovych – from the office of the judge of the Vinnytskyi appellate court.
On July 16, 2024, the HCJ decided to change the decision of the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ on bringing judge of the Semenivskyi district court of Chernihiv region Oleksandr Hnyp to disciplinary liability and applying to him a disciplinary penalty in the form of reprimand.
The HCJ made a decision to temporarily, for the term of three months, suspend judge Oleksandr Hnyp from administering justice with the deprivation of the right to receive additional payment to the salary and with mandatory sending of the judge to the NSJU to undergo a training course “Judicial ethics and integrity”, as well as further qualification assessment to confirm the judge's ability to administer justice in the relevant court.
Provision of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors with premises remains a priority task
An issue on the provision of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors of the HCJ, as well as the HACC, was discussed during the meeting of the Subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy on July 18, 2024.
Competition for the position of the Head of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors is open again
On July 18, 2024, the HCJ again announced the competition for the position of the Head of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors – Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the High Council of Justice.
The full text of the Procedure for conducting the competition for filling positions of the Head of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors and his/her deputy, disciplinary inspector can be found on the official HCJ website.
Proactive communication of courts with media and public is an important prerequisite for increasing the level of public trust in the justice system
An issue of improving internal and external communication of the judicial system was discussed at the international conference “Judicial communication: one voice as a tool for building trust” that was held in Lviv.
The event was organized by the HCJ together with the communication agency Good to know, EU Project “Право-Justice”, USAID Program “Justice for All” within the Project “Strengthening of communication competencies of the judicial system of Ukraine by developing an effective internal communication system and sustainable communication tools”, financed by the Lithuanian development cooperation fund.
In his welcoming speech, the Chairman of the HCJ Hryhorii Usyk noted that the judiciary consistently changes its approaches to increase effective ways of communication with the society. As he believes that society should understand the tasks, problems and challenges facing the judiciary.
More details at the link.