Activities of the HCJ Secretariat in figures for January-August 2022
During eight months of 2022, the Secretariat of the High Council of Justice considered 1276 appeals from citizens and 167 requests for information. For the said period 2108 appeals were received from citizens to the HCJ hotline at the telephone number: (044) 481-06-26.
Since the beginning of 2022, 1351 cover letters were prepared on sending copies of the acts of the HCJ and its bodies; 4438 copies of acts of the HCJ, its bodies and members of the HCJ were issued; 2428 pages of draft documents of the HCJ were edited.
On the official website of the High Council of Justice, 9142 acts of the HCJ and 562 other documents were published, 196 news were prepared and posted; about 900 information materials were published on the HCJ Telegram channel and on the HCJ Facebook page.
The HCJ demands to urgently approve a mechanism for bringing to responsibility collaborating judges
The HCJ strongly condemns and considers manifestations of high treason and collaborative activities among judges to be unacceptable. The members of the Council insist on the adoption of legislative changes that will allow, despite the absence of the full composition of the Council, to respond to such cases and bring to responsibility those judges who have violated the oath.
Due to the enforced absence of the constitutional composition of the body, the HCJ for a long period was deprived of the opportunity to exercise its powers, in particular, granting consent to detain judges or hold them in custody. The impossibility to adequately respond to the shameful manifestations of collaborative activity among judges harms the authority of the judiciary and the state as a whole.
The High Council of Justice once again calls on parliamentarians to urgently adopt changes to the current legislation and temporarily (until the formation of the full composition of the Council) give the current members of the HCJ authority to make appropriate decisions against traitor judges. In accordance with Article 131 of the Constitution of Ukraine, decision on granting consent to detain judge or hold him/her in custody, on suspension of judges from the administration of justice can be adopted exclusively by the HCJ.
The work on legislative regulation of issues on staff shortage in courts of appeal continues
The Acting Chairman of the High Council of Justice Vitalii Salikhov, the Council members Oksana Blazhivska, Dmytro Lukianov, Roman Maselko, Mykola Moroz and Inna Plakhtii participated in the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on legal policy.
The participants, in particular, discussed the draft Law on making amendments to Section XII “Final and Transitional Provisions” of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” regarding the secondment of judges to ensure the administering justice and elimination of the threat of termination of work of courts of appeal (No. 6049).
The draft Resolution on adopting as a basis the draft law No.6049 was registered on September 15, 2022 (No. 6049/П).
This was noted by the Acting Chairman of the HCJ Vitalii Salikhov during the X International Judicial Legal Forum, organized by edition “Yurydychna praktyka”.
Vitalii Salikhov informed about topical issues on vectors for improving disciplinary procedures and the prospects for introducing the institution of disciplinary inspectors. He noted that implementation of qualitative judicial reform in Ukraine is aimed primarily at cleansing the judiciary, restoring public confidence in the courts and ensuring the existence of an independent court in Ukraine. At the same time, he stressed that today it is extremely important to carefully analyze the consequences of previous reforms.
Vitalii Salikhov noted that uninterrupted work of the judiciary under martial law is extremely important in view of the tasks and challenges facing Ukraine and the justice system, including in connection with military aggression by the RF.
Position of the High Council of Justice regarding the possibility of acquisition of foreign citizenship by a judge is unambiguous – acting in the name of Ukraine, a judge can only have the citizenship of our state. The holding of another citizenship that proven in the manner specified by the legislation is the basis for termination of his/her powers.
Article 126 of the Constitution of Ukraine clearly provides that the authority of a judge shall be terminated in case of acquisition of foreign citizenship. In addition, the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” states that powers of a judge shall be terminated in case of acquisition by a judge of any foreign citizenship, with the effect from the day when any such termination of the Ukrainian citizenship or acquisition of foreign citizenship occurred.
The HCJ members are extremely concerned impossibility of making decisions in critical situations in the circumstances that prevailed during the war in front of the judicial system. The lack of authority of the highest body of judicial governance threatens the stability of the judicial system and the security of the entire state.
Remote justice needs development, – Roman Maselko
“Remote justice will ensure better access to justice, no matter what conditions we are in,” emphasized the member of the High Council of Justice Roman Maselko during presentation by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) group of experts of the preliminary analysis of draft laws on amendments to the Code of Administrative Proceedings of Ukraine, the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine and the Economic Procedure Code of Ukraine (on the conduct of proceedings under martial law or state of emergency).
After the meeting, based on the discussion and comments, the final version of the expert analysis of draft laws will be prepared.
The event was jointly organized by the Council of Europe Project “Support for judicial institutions and processes to strengthen access to justice in Ukraine” in cooperation with the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice.
Oksana Blazhivska: underfunding and collaboration – new challenges to the judicial system
Since February 24, 2022, Ukraine has been in a state of full-scale war with the aggressor country that has affected all spheres of our state’s life, including the judicial system.
Currently, the judicial system is running through many trials and transformations.
Unfortunately, the absence of functioning bodies in the judiciary fell precisely on this difficult period – the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the High Council of Justice. However, the challenges facing society today require an immediate response.