This was emphasized by the Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk during the All-Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Forum “Integrity – the Future of Ukrainian Statehood”. The event was organized by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.
The Head of the Council drew attention to the well-coordinated work of the HCJ and NACP during the approval of the draft State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025 (SAСP). He recalled that the newly formed HCJ at one of its first meetings reviewed the draft SAСP and agreed on it with some comments and suggestions. The most important of them were taken into account by the NACP.
“The program is of great importance for every institution and for the state as a whole, as it provides an opportunity to strategically plan activities to prevent manifestations of corruption,” Hryhorii Usyk said.
According to the Chairman of the HCJ, one of the most important measures of the State Anti-Corruption Program was to form the authorized composition of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine to ensure quality selection of professional and honest judges to overcome the personnel shortage, to complete the qualification assessment of judges as one of the conditions for starting negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Hryhorii Usyk pointed out the fact that in conditions of a significant shortage of judges and staff turnover, the judicial system, unfortunately, is not able to ensure compliance with the terms for consideration of cases, the timely restoration of citizens’ rights, and also warned against the adoption of legislative innovations that could prevent the timely selection of judges by the HQCJU.
According to Hryhorii Usyk, the next extremely important priority for the HCJ is the formation and commence of the Disciplinary Inspectors Service. The competition for the position of the Head of the Service, Deputy Head of the Service and disciplinary inspector will be conducted by a competition commission formed by the HCJ and consisting of six members, three of whom shall be appointed upon the suggestions of international and foreign organizations. Hryhorii Usyk informed that international organizations have already delegated three candidates to the Competition Commission – reputable, highly professional experts. The Competition Commission will soon be created and competition will be announced for filling positions of disciplinary inspectors.
As Hryhorii Usyk Usik noted, the VRP has arranged a settlement on methodological and technical assistance in organizing the operation of the competition commission, holding competition and ensuring the work of inspectors with representatives of international projects that systematically support the development of the justice sector (the European Union Project Pravo-Justice and the USAID Justice for All Activity). He expressed the hope that within six months a completely new structure would be formed that would carry out preliminary preparation for the consideration of disciplinary complaints. Currently, the process of automated distribution of disciplinary complaints among members of the HCJ, who will carry out disciplinary proceedings until the formation of the service, is nearing completion. Members of the HCJ have already determined the criteria for prioritizing the consideration of complaints.
The Chairman of the HCJ also emphasized that for the judicial governance body, such a measure to implement the State Anti-Corruption Program as the development of uniform criteria (indicators) for evaluation of integrity and professional ethics of a judge (candidate for the position of judge) is now extremely important. The Council will approve this document with the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine and the Public Integrity Council.
“This is of the uttermost importance, since at each stage - either selection, or qualification evaluation of the HQCJU, or taking decision by the HCJ on the submitting a proposal to the President for appointment to the position of a judge, it is necessary to rely on unified criteria and approaches. Their development will contribute to the objectivity and transparency of this process,” noted Hryhorii Usyk.
The Head of the Council also said that to implement measures of the SACP, the HCJ had conducted an analytical study of the practice of evaluating judges’ compliance with the criteria of integrity and professional ethics, and analysis of the HCJ’s disciplinary practice had been prepared. This analysis will soon be approved and published by the Council.
The event was also attended by the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Denmark to Ukraine Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention Oleksandr Novikov, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine Semen Kryvonos, the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), Oleksandr Klymenko the Head of the High Anti-Corruption Court, Vira Mykhailenko, the Head of the of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Anastasiia Radina, First Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine Andrii Borovyk, Member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Andrii Pasichnyk, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration Liudmyla Suhak, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Nemchinov, Minister of Healthcare of Ukraine Viktor Liashko and others.
It should be reminded that the State Anti-Corruption Program was adopted by the government on March 4, 2023. The document provides for the solution of 73 problems; achievement of 271 expected strategic results; implementation of 1187 measures. The program is implemented by 109 government agencies, institutions and organizations. The SACP provides for comprehensive changes in 15 areas where the high level of corruption risks. In particular, these are the land sector, construction, justice, law enforcement, customs and taxation, etc.