1. About 4,63 million citizens can be left without access to justice due to underfunding of the Central appellate commercial court
A financial collapse has occurred in the Central appellate commercial court – chief judge notified about lack of funds to pay salaries to court staff.
As of March 9, 2021, the actual number of judges is 18 persons, the staff list provides 30 positions of judges. According to the data of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine for 2020 in the proceeding of the Central appellate commercial court were 4723 cases and materials, from which 3983 were received in the reporting period.
The court reviews in appeal proceeding judgments of commercial courts of the first instance, that are situated in Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Zaporizhzhia regions, where, in general, live 4 629 963 people, who are potential users of judicial services.
The High Council of Justice reiterates, underfunding the judiciary is a direct interference with its independence and, as a result, deprives citizens of access to justice.
2. The internship in the High Council of Justice of the winners of the I All-Ukrainian student competition for resolving court disputes and writing judgment has been solemnly completed
The High Council of Justice implemented an ambitious project – students of the country's leading law schools underwent an internship in the Council and saw from their own experience the importance of its activities for establishing the rule of law in Ukraine.
13 winners of the I All-Ukrainian student competition for resolving court disputes and writing judgment, in which 800 people took part, had the opportunity to join the workflow of the HCJ, gain unique experience of interaction with the judiciary.
Student competitions with the further internship of the winners in the High Council of Justice will become traditional, the next one is planned for the summer of 2021.
3. HCJ suspended judge Iryna Hryschenko from administering justice due to bringing her to criminal liability
The High Council of Justice at its session on March 30, 2021, satisfied the petition of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and temporarily suspended the judge of the Dzerzhynskyi district court of Kharkiv Iryna Hryschenko from administering justice due to bringing her to the criminal liability until the entry into force of a court sentence or the closure of criminal proceedings on charges of committing a criminal offense.
4. Third Disciplinary chamber of the HCJ decided to refuse in opening a disciplinary case by the complaint to actions of the HACC judges
On March 31, 2021, the Third Disciplinary chamber of the High Council of Justice considered an issue on opening or refusing in opening disciplinary cases regarding the judge Vira Mykhailenko and judges of the Appellate chamber of the High Anti-corruption court Inna Kaluhina, Mykola Hlotov, Danyila Chornenka.
It was established that arguments of complaints regarding the judge of the High Anti-corruption court Vira Mykhailenko and judges of the Appellate chamber of the High Anti-corruption court Inna Kaluhina, Mykola Hlotov, Danyila Chornenka were not confirmed and are reduced to expressing disagreement with court decisions.
The decision on refusal to open a disciplinary case is not subject to appeal.
5. Disciplinary chambers of the HCJ considered two complaints on a HACC judge Tymur Khamzin
On March 31, 2021, the First and Third Disciplinary chambers of the High Council of Justice considered issues on opening or refusing in opening disciplinary cases regarding the judge of the High Anti-corruption court Tymur Khamzin.
By the results of consideration of two complaints regarding the judge, the Third Disciplinary chamber of the HCJ made a decision to open one disciplinary case due to the probable commission of violations during the consideration of a criminal case.
Having examined the materials of the preliminary inspection, the Third Disciplinary chamber of the HCJ concluded that actions of the judge may indicate the presence of signs of disciplinary misconduct, namely intentional or due to negligence failure to indicate in the court decision the reasons for the acceptance or rejection of the arguments of the parties on the merits of the dispute.
The decision on opening the disciplinary case is not subject to appeal. The disciplinary case regarding the judge will be considered at the session of the Third Disciplinary chamber with the participation of the judge or his representative and the complainant.
Regarding the other complaint concerning judge T. Khamzin, the First Disciplinary chamber of the HCJ decided to refuse in opening a disciplinary case, because the complaint does not contain information about the presence of signs of disciplinary misconduct of a judge and its essence is limited to disagreement with the court decision.
6. Procedure for seconding judges to two courts of Poltava region has begun
The High Council of Justice according to decisions of March 30, 2021, No. 728/0/15-21 and No. 729/0/15-21 announces the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization for administering justice, namely to:
Oktiabrskyi district court of Poltava – 2 judges;
Lubenskyi city district court of Poltava region – 2 judges.
Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to mentioned courts must submit documents to the High Council of Justice within ten days (from the date of the announcement of the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges).
More details here.
7. The term for granting judges’ consent for seconding to the Sumy appellate court has been extended
The High Council of Justice, according to the decision of March 30, 2021, No. 730/0/15-21, extended the term of granting judges’ consent for seconding to the Sumy appellate court till April 10, 2021.
It should be reminded, the High Council of Justice by the decision of March 11, 2021, No. 626/0/15-21 announced the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization for the administration of justice, namely to the:
Sumy appellate court – 8 judges.
8. Judge of the Kreminskyi district court of Luhansk region resigned
On April 1, 2021, the High Council of Justice made a decision to dismiss Kovaliov Valerii Maksymovych from the position of the judge of the Kreminskyi district court of Luhansk region due to his submission of application for resignation.
9. Work is ongoing on proposals to improve commercial legislation
On March 31, 2021, a regular meeting of the working group on reforming commercial procedural legislation in online conference mode.
The main task of the working group is to determine the priorities and directions of commercial development for the benefit of justice and the people of Ukraine.
The members of the group at the beginning of the work decided to focus on the most pressing issues of commercial litigation, which require a rapid response and, above all, require amends in legislation.
Oksana Blazhivska, summing up the discussion, suggested that at the next meeting of the group focus on such issues:
- conduction judicial control over the execution of court decisions in commercial litigation;
- transition to written proceedings in the consideration and resolution of commercial cases;
- introduction of an official e-mail address for electronic notification of participants in the commercial process.
The members of the working group agreed to promptly work out these issues and present their proposals for the development of a consolidated position at the next meeting.
10. Media openness of Ukrainian courts: HCJ supported the annual poll
The High Council of Justice is empowered to form and coordinate the implementation of a unified communication policy of the judiciary of Ukraine. The work of court communication teams is extremely important for its implementation in order to develop justice and increase the level of trust in courts.
An important element of this work, which allows analyzing the dynamics and level of public information about the activities of courts, is the monitoring of media openness of the courts of Ukraine, which is conducted annually at the initiative of the NGO " Human Rights Vector".
The survey is conducted online until April 18, 2021, inclusive.
We invite representatives of court communication teams to take part in the survey. To do this, fill out the form at the link http://bit.ly/3rKp53C.
11. HCJ responded to the interference in the activities of a judge of the Kirovohrad circuit administrative court
The High Council of Justice received a notification from the judge of the Kirovohrad circuit administrative court Khylko Liubov Ivanivna on interference in the activity of a judge regarding administering justice.
The judge’s notification stated that in October 2020 she became aware of conducting by Territorial department of the State bureau of investigations located in Mykolaiv, a pre-judicial investigation in criminal proceedings regarding making by the judge of the Kirovohrad circuit administrative court Khylko L.I. an unjust judgment of May 16, 2017, during the consideration of the administrative case on the claim of LLC "Agro-Incam-Trade" to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and Kropyvnytskyi joint state tax inspection of the Main department of the State Fiscal Service in Kirovohrad region.
After reviewing the judge's notification, the HCJ considers that there are grounds for taking measures to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice.
The HCJ decided to address the State Tax Service of Ukraine regarding the inspection of the actions of the official of the STS of Ukraine, which may indicate a violation of the guarantees of independence of a judge in the administration of justice, in the circumstances set forth in the notification of the judge of the Kirovohrad circuit administrative court Khylko L.I.
Besides, the HCJ decided to address the Prosecutor General’s Office regarding the provision of information on the detection and investigation of a crime in criminal proceedings entered in the URPTI on the grounds of a criminal offense under part one of Article 375 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and draw the attention of the Prosecutor General’s Office to compliance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 214 of the Criminal procedure code of Ukraine on the obligation of authorized bodies to enter information into the URPTI within the time limits specified by law.
12. HCJ addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office to verify the circumstances reported by the head of the Chernihiv circuit administrative court
The head of the Chernihiv circuit administrative court Yurii Skalozub addressed the High Council of Justice with notifications regarding the violation of guarantees of judicial independence by detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine during investigative actions.
As stated in one of the appeals, the NABU detectives conducted a search in the office of the judge within the criminal proceeding, in which Skalozub Yu.O. was not reported about suspicion.
Skalozub Yu.I. informed that during the search, NABU employers inspected the hard drive of his work computer and personal flash drivers, as well as confiscated a mobile phone, which, according to him, was tapped without the relevant decision of the investigating judge. The judge later said that anti-corruption law enforcement officers continued to illegally detain his property.
The HCJ decided to address the Prosecutor General’s Office on the need to verify the circumstances, reported by the head of the Chernihiv circuit administrative court Yurii Skalozub, in compliance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
13. Procedure for seconding judges to two more courts has begun
The High Council of Justice according to decisions of April 1, 2021, No. 764/0/15-21 and No. 765/0/15-21 announces the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges to another court of the same level and specialization for administering justice, namely to:
Commercial court of Zakarpattia region - 1 judge;
Popasnianskyi district court of Luhansk region - 3 judges.
Judges who expressed the wish to be seconded to mentioned courts must submit documents to the High Council of Justice within ten days (from the date of the announcement of the beginning of the procedure for seconding judges).
More details here.
14. Decrees of the President of Ukraine on the appointment of judges have been published
The President of Ukraine supported the submission of the High Council of Justice on appointment judges to local general courts.
According to Decrees of the President of Ukraine of April 2, 2021, No. 136/2021, No. 138/2021 five judges were appointed to local general courts.
DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 136/2021
On appointing judges
According to part five of Article 126, Article 127 and parts one and two of Article 128 of the Constitution of Ukraine I hereby decree:
1. To appoint in local general courts to positions:
of a judge of the Leninskyi district court of Mykolaiv HRYNENKO Mykhailo Viktorovych;
of a judge of the Bolhradskyi district court of Odesa region VYSOTSKYI Serhii Oleksandrovych;
of a judge of the Prydniprovskyi district court of Cherkasy KONSTANTYN Vladyslav Mykhailovych.
President of Ukraine V. ZELENSKYY
April 2, 2021
DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 138/2021
On appointing judges
According to part five of Article 126, Article 127 and parts one and two of Article 128 of the Constitution of Ukraine I hereby decree:
1. To appoint in local general courts to positions:
of a judge of the Koroliovskyi district court of Zhytomyr FRANCHUK Serhii Vasyliovych;
of a judge of the Pecherskyi district court of Kyiv HOLOVKO Yuliia Hryhorivna.
President of Ukraine V. ZELENSKYY
April 2, 2021