The HCJ Secretariat prepared a thorough and comprehensive synthesis of the practice of consideration by the HCJ of judges' notifications of interference in their activities in the administration of justice and other decisions of the HCJ on the adoption of measures to ensure judicial independence and the authority of justice in 2021і.
The summary analyzes in detail the legal basis for consideration by the body of the judicial governance notifications of judges on interference in their activities in the administration of justice. Complex of international and domestic norms regulating the issue of ensuring the independence of judges is given.
The HCJ thanks everyone involved in the release of the judge Yuliia Matvieieva from captivity
The High Council of Justice expresses its gratitude to all the bodies and structures that contributed to the release from captivity of Yuliia Matvieieva, the judge of Illichivskyi district court of the city of Mariupol, Donetsk Region.
Back in April, the HCJ appealed to Iryna Vereshchuk, the Vice Prime Minister – the Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the National Information Bureau and asked to establish location and facilitate the release of the judge of Illichivskyi district court of the city of Mariupol, Donetsk region, Yuliia Matvieieva and her husband. In addition, the President of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev, the Acting Chairman of the High Council of Justice Vitalii Salikhov and the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine Bohdan Monich addressed joint letter to the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Joint Center for Search and Release of Prisoners under the Security Service of Ukraine and the State enterprise “Ukrainian National Center for Peacebuilding” with a request to urgently take all possible measures for the speedy release from captivity of the judge of Illichivskyi district court of the city of Mariupol, Donetsk region Yu.O. Matvieieva and her husband
The High Council of Justice member Inna Plakhtii spoke about modern challenges and priority tasks of the justice system bodies during the Eastern Ukrainian Judicial Forum “Topical issues of considering disputes related to the protection of the rights of individuals in martial law in Ukraine”.
Inna Plakhtii noted that the main problems of the judiciary in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine remain the lack of plenipotentiary composition of the High Council of Justice, the launch of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, overcoming the staff shortage, ensuring sufficient level of funding, introducing expanded capabilities of electronic or remote justice in order to ensure the safety of participants and funds savings. Due to the lack of constitutional powers of the HCJ, the extremely critical for the judiciary and society issues remain unresolved – it is currently impossible to suspend judges from the administration of justice in connection with criminal prosecution, to give consent to detain a judge or hold him/her in custody or arrest, terminate authority of a judge or resignation of a judge in connection with the entry into force of a sentence or acquisition of foreign citizenship, as well as dismiss judges for resignation, for health reasons or at their own request.
Time and place of the Congress of Scholars have been determined
In response to the appeal of the High Council of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine determined the time and place of the Congress of representatives of higher education and research institutions in the area of law
It is planned that the Congress will begin its work on December 16, 2022 at 11:00 in the premises of the State University of Trade and Economics at the address: Kyiv, Kioto street, 19.
In accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the High Council of Justice”, the Congress of representatives of higher education and research institutions in the area of law shall elect two members of the HCJ.
On August 19, 2022, during the last Congress, Dmytro Lukianov was elected to the position of a member of the HCJ.
By order of the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 954 dated October 26, 2022, the time and place of the Congress of representatives of higher education and research institutions in the area of law was determined, the agenda of which included the election of members of the HCJ.
A candidate for membership in the High Council of Justice shall personally submit the documents specified in part one of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine “On the High Council of Justice” to the High Council of Justice or send those by electronic means of communication, no later than thirty calendar days before the date of the congress.
Submission of application documents of candidates for the position of a member of the High Council of Justice will end at 24:00 on November 15, 2022, in the event of submission of documents in electronic form or at the last hour of work of the Secretariat of the High Council of Justice – at 17:00 on November 15, 2022, if the documents are submitted in person.
The number of citizens' appeals to the court indicates confidence in the judiciary
The High Council of Justice draws attention to the fact that, despite the systematic missile and air strikes carried out by the aggressor country, most of the courts located on the territory that controlled by Ukraine did not stop their work at all. At the same time, administration of the courts made every effort to ensure a balance between the safety of judges, employees of apparatus, case participants, and observance of the procedural rights of the parties and the fundamentals of legal proceedings.
During the war period, 2,977,567 decisions were adopted and sent to the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, which, in turn, indicates a large number of citizens' applications for judicial protection and, in our opinion, real confidence in the judicial branch of power.
The High Council of Justice believes that it is necessary to determine the level of confidence in the judicial branch of power based not on dubious single ratings, but on the real number of citizens' appeals to the courts for the protection of violated rights.
The member of the High Council of Justice Oksana Blazhivska drew attention to this during meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy.
The courts inform the HCJ that, due to the lack of electricity, they are not able to carry out automatic distribution of cases, hold and record court hearings, enter decisions in the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions, etc.
Oksana Blazhivska suggested approaching the solution of the problem in a complex way – simultaneously in different planes. First, look for ways and opportunities to provide courts with alternative sources of electricity not only at the expense of domestic funds, but also with the involvement of international assistance. Secondly, concurrently amend the procedural codes, taking into account the recommendations and proposals that have been repeatedly pointed out by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) on revising the time limits for considering cases, fixing the process by technical means, and the possibility of holding meetings outside the court.
Oksana Blazhivska noted that the HCJ, together with parliamentarians and the State Judicial Administration, is ready to join in the development of mechanisms for responding to critical situations, because the administration of justice must be continuous.