This was emphasized by the current members of the High Council of Justice - Vitalii Salikhov, Oksana Blazhivska, Inna Plakhtii during a meeting of the working group on financing the judiciary, which was established in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.
In the course of the discussion on the preparation for the XIX Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine, the agenda of which includes the issue of electing eight members of the High Council of Justice, Vitalii Salikhov, Oksana Blazhivska, Inna Plakhtii drew attention to the emergence of new legislative norms that cause reservations.
As it was reported, on May 20, 2022, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to certain laws of Ukraine on the functioning of the civil service and local self-government during the period of Martial Law” came into force. It was established that during the period of martial law, special check shall not be conducted provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”, as well as a check provided for by the Law of Ukraine "On Cleansing of Power". The organization of a special check in respect of persons appointed during the period of martial law will be carried out within three months from the date of its termination or abolition.
According to the members of the HCJ, in approving these novels, it would be necessary to make an exception for the HCJ candidates and ensure check of future members of the constitutional body of judicial administration, as they will hold a particularly responsible position and make decisions that will affect the work of the entire judicial system.
They turned to People's Deputy of Ukraine Serhii Demchenko with a request to work out mechanisms to ensure implementation of at least a partial verification of the most important information, which will allow them to obtain information whether a person has not been brought to administrative, criminal liability, etc.
Members of the HCJ focused on the fact that recently at the state level much attention has been paid to the formation of a new composition of the Council from among candidates who, inter alia, meet the criteria of professional ethics and integrity. Currently, the verification of candidates by the Ethics Council is complicated; the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has suspended the annual verification.
According to the HCJ members, under such conditions, even during martial law, measures should be taken to avoid undesirable consequences and provide for verification procedures that would allow selecting the best candidates for the HCJ, and making it impossible to discredit the body of the judiciary.