The appointment of members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU) is an important component of the judicial reform because it will allow resuming the work of the HQCJU on the selection of judges to replenish the judicial staff and complete the qualification assessment of the acting judges. Please be advised that the HQCJU has not been working for more than two years and in order to resume its work, a Selection Commission has been established to select candidates for the positions of members of the HQCJU on the basis of a transparent competition.

On January 21, 2022, the Selection Commission for the selection of candidates for the positions of members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (Selection Commission) began its official work. During the meeting, the leadership of the Selection Commission was elected, namely, Ted Zarzeczny, a retired judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan, was elected chairman, and Ivan Mishchenko, a judge of the Commercial Cassation Court, Supreme Court, was elected deputy chairman.

During the first official meeting, the Rules of Procedure of the Selection Commission, the Regulation on the Competitive Selection, the Methodology of Assessment of Compliance of Candidates with the Integrity and Professional Competence Criteria, as well as the application form with appendices indicating the intention to be appointed the HQCJ member were approved.

To ensure the selection process of candidates, the Selection Commission signed a Memorandum of cooperation and information exchange with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and announced its intention to cooperate with the public. 

The Commission announced the competition for the position of a member High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. Applications will be accepted from February 4, 2022 till March 4, 2022.  The competition will be held based on the rule of law, professionalism, publicity and political neutrality. Interested persons who meet the requirements as defined by law for a member of the HQCJU must submit a corresponding application to the Selection Commission during this period about their intention to participate in the competition.

Lawyers who are citizens of Ukraine, have a higher legal education, at least 15 years of legal professional experience, speak the state language and meet the criteria of integrity and professional competence are allowed to participate in the competition.

“This is a new beginning, a new page in the history of the administration of justice in Ukraine. We understand the importance of our role and let me assure you that we will put all our experience, all our efforts and all our work to achieve the goals set by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. To do this, we will need the support of the media, the people of Ukraine, and civil society organizations. We plan to cooperate with all of you,” Ted Zarzeczny, Chairman of the Selection Commission said.

During the second official meeting on January 24, 2022 the members of the Selection Commission communicated with legal professionals and told about the basic rules of the competition.

In particular, that the competition will be held in two stages. At the first stage based on the review of the documents submitted by candidates, the results of a special audit, and relevant information from open sources, a list of candidates admitted to the interview will be formed.

 At the second stage the preselected candidates will be interviewed and based on the results of such interviews the Selection Commission will shortlist candidates recommended for appointment to the High Council of Justice. The law provides that the Selection Commission must select and submit for consideration of the High Council of Justice at least two candidates for each of the 16 vacancies.

"We are a single commission consisting of six members, we are not talking about Ukrainian and international experts but about a single common "us". This is a great and very efficient combination. Our Ukrainian colleagues will help with the Ukrainian context of legislation, and foreign colleagues will share best practices that have been developed in Europe, the United States and Canada," Ted Zarzeczny said and promised on behalf of the members of the Selection Commission that "the competitive selection will be based on the merits of candidates and their integrity, and not on who they know." 

Ivan Mishchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Selection Commission, a Judge of the Supreme Court encouraged the entire legal community to join the restoration of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and try their hand at the competition.

The members of the Selection Commission are Serhii Verlanov, Judge of the Kyiv Court of Appeal; Yevhen Miezientsev, Judge of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeals; Ivan Mischenko, Judge of the Commercial Cassation Court, Supreme Court; Robert Broekhuijsen, lawyer, a former Special Prosecutor in the Serious Fraud Office of the Dutch Prosecution Service; Ted Zarzeczny, a retired Judge at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Stephen Markman, a retired Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, USA.

The first composition of the Selection Commission was appointed on September 17, 2021 by the order of acting chairman of the High Council of Justice pursuant to the amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges".