A working meeting on determining the number of judges in local and appellate courts was held in the High Council of Justice, involving the members of the HCJ, HQCJU, representatives of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the Supreme Court, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine and the National School of Judges of Ukraine.
The Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk informed that the HQCJ of Ukraine has raised the issue of the necessity to determine the number of judges in local and appellate courts due to the fact that in August 2023, 582 candidates will be able to participate in the competition for vacant positions.
“At present, the judicial system is facing a situation of great uncertainty. The workload of the courts varies not only between regions but even within a single region due to changes in the jurisdiction of judicial cases. It is difficult to predict how the map of courts might change due to their further optimization. Therefore, a solution needs to be found to address this situation”, - noted the HCJ Chairman.
Inna Plakhtii, a member of the High Council of Justice, proposed to solve the issue of personnel shortage in the courts by determining the temporary number of judges in order to complete the selection for the positions of judges in local courts and initiate new competitions for the positions of judges in appellate courts.
Ruslan Sydorovych, the Deputy Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, remarked that the proposal of the determination of the temporary number of judges is appropriate. This will allow for a swift resolution of the judge shortage issue in local courts with the highest workload. He assured that this year there is an opportunity to complete the competition for the positions of judges in local courts, to start the competition for the selection of judges to appellate courts by the end of this year.
The participants of the meeting agreed that the number of judges in local and appellate courts should be no less than previously determined by the orders of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine.