The Secretariat of the High Council of Justice has made a thorough synthesis on securing funding for the judiciary in 2021.
The summary contains:
– comprehensive legal framework that determines the proper funding of courts as an integral part of guarantees of independence (analysis of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, opinions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, relevant laws);
– analysis of the norms of legislation that regulate participation of the High Council of Justice in the budget process and financial support for the activities of courts, bodies and institutions of the justice system;
– detailed information about the real state, the main funding needs of courts and problematic issues requiring urgent solutions;
– analysis of court appeals regarding inadequate level of funding;
– information on number of diverse measures taken by the High Council of Justice to resolve problematic issues (coordination of the redistribution of budgetary funds between courts and various kinds of active interaction with representatives of other branches of government in Ukraine in various formats in order to amend laws);
– recommendations on the results of implementation of budgetary powers by the High Council of Justice, etc.
The HCJ emphasizes that one of the most important guarantees of the independence of courts and judges is their proper financial support – decent remuneration of judges and court staff, as well as ensuring funding for the material needs of courts in an amount sufficient to effectively perform their functions.
Further development of the judiciary, bringing it into line with international standards and solving urgent issues of financial and material support for the courts activities requires the joint efforts of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government with the obligatory consideration in this cooperation of arguments and position of the judiciary itself.