The High Council of Justice member Inna Plakhtii spoke about modern challenges and priority tasks of the justice system bodies during the Eastern Ukrainian Judicial Forum “Topical issues of considering disputes related to the protection of the rights of individuals in martial law in Ukraine”.
Inna Plakhtii reported that since February 24, 2022, after the beginning of full-scale war, 85 courts were destroyed or significantly damaged.
As of September 20, 2022, 130 courts of general jurisdiction do not administer justice due to the war.
At the same time, it was possible to resume the work of 40 courts in Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
According to her, the main problems of the judiciary in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine remain the lack of plenipotentiary composition of the High Council of Justice, the launch of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, overcoming the staff shortage, ensuring sufficient level of funding, introducing expanded capabilities of electronic or remote justice in order to ensure the safety of participants and funds savings.
Thus, Inna Plakhtii noted that due to the lack of constitutional powers of the HCJ, the extremely critical for the judiciary and society issues remain unresolved – it is currently impossible to suspend judges from the administration of justice in connection with criminal prosecution, to give consent to detain a judge or hold him/her in custody or arrest, terminate authority of a judge or resignation of a judge in connection with the entry into force of a sentence or acquisition of foreign citizenship, as well as dismiss judges for resignation, for health reasons or at their own request.
She noted that there are currently seven members in the HCJ. The restoration of the constitutional composition depends entirely on the decisions of the subjects of election and appointment of members of the Council.
Also, Inna Plakhtii once again stressed that the decisive step towards overcoming the staff shortage is the resumption of the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. It is also important the support by the Parliament of legislative initiatives aimed at ensuring the proper level of funding for the judicial power and enhancing the use of information technology in the judiciary.