Acting Chairman of the HCJ Vitalii Salikhov, members of the Council Oksana Blazhivska, Inna Plakhtii, Roman Maselko, Mykola Moroz took part in discussion during the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy of draft laws on improving the procedure for selecting candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (No. 7662, No. 7663).
Draft law No. 7662 “On making amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding improvement of the procedure for selecting candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on a competitive basis” proposes to involve in the competitive selection of candidates for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court a new special body – the Advisory Group of Experts, which will assist subjects of appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court in assessing the candidates’ moral qualities and level of competence in the field of law. It is proposed to form an advisory group consisting of six people: by one person is nominated from the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Congress of Judges of Ukraine - as the subjects of the formation of the CCU that defined by the Constitution of Ukraine, one person – by the European Commission for Democracy through Law and two persons – by international and foreign organizations providing Ukraine with international technical assistance in the field of constitutional reform and/or the rule of law, and/or the protection of human rights, and/or the prevention and counteraction of corruption. The draft establishes the rules and procedures for determining persons in the Advisory Group by each subject of its formation, determines the general provisions on the status and activities of the Advisory Group.
Draft Law No. 7663 “On making amendments to Article 129 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” regarding ascertaining the powers of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine” proposes to grant the Congress of Judges of Ukraine the authority to determine a person to be a member of the Advisory Group of Experts.
During the discussion of the legislative initiative, the HCJ member Oksana Blazhivska noted that the members of the Council have analysed the draft law and consider it well-founded and reflecting new principles and approaches to the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. Similar norms have already been tested in the selection of members of the High Council of Justice.
At the same time, Oksana Blazhivska drew the attention of those present that the competitive procedures for the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine have already begun, the Council of Judges of Ukraine announced the holding of congress of judges, the agenda of which includes election of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and members of the High Council of Justice. In view of the above the HCJ member proposed to provide for the possibility of checking candidates by the current Ethics Council (until formation of the Advisory Group) in the transitional provisions of the law. According to her, the presence of such a norm will allow applying new approaches to checking the compliance of candidates already during the nearest congress of judges and significantly save the financial resources of the state. Since, it is impossible and inexpedient to hold a separate congress after introduction of new procedures at the legislative level in the conditions of limited funding for the judiciary. She noted that this position is supported by the majority of colleagues, as it will not only save resources, but also ensure security, given that the judges will not gather unnecessarily.
Position of the HCJ members on the need to complete the already started selection procedure for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with delegating the functions of the Advisory Group to the Ethical Council for transitional period was supported by representatives of the Supreme Court, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, and parliamentarian Pavlo Pavlish.
The HCJ member Roman Maselko spoke in support for the draft law. At the same time, he emphasized that the document does not reflect the recommendation of the Venice Commission regarding involving representatives of civil society in the checking process of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. According to him, the presence of such a norm will contribute to consensus on the results of the competition and increase public confidence in the judiciary.
The Committee considers it possible, when finalizing the draft between the first and second readings, to take into account the comments of the HCJ members.
Based on the results of the consideration, the Committee decided to recommend to the Parliament to take draft law No. 7662 as a basis, as well as to apply to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with proposal to announce the application of the provisions of Article 116 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Rules of the Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine” in the further development of the draft. Technical draft law No. 7663 is recommended to be taken as a basis.