Political Points for 7–14 January 2019
Political Points of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform include a weekly expert analysis of the most important processes in Ukraine in areas of constitutionalism, political parties and elections, governance and public administration reform, judiciary, combatting corruption, criminal justice, etc.
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Public Council of International Experts has questioned the integrity of 47 of the 113 candidates for the positions of judges of the High Anticorruption Court
1. CPLR expert opinion
On January 11, 2019, the last (fourth) meeting of the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE) took place, during which the issue of compliance with the integrity criteria of another 15 candidates for the positions of judges of the High Anticorruption Court (HAC) was initiated. In total, the PCIE questioned the integrity of 47 out of 113 such candidates. They include 35 judges, 9 lawyers and 3 scholars.
2. Respective authorities counter-point/argument
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3. CPLR assessment of the authorities counter-point
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4. Related legislation/instructions which require the authorities act in a certain manner
According to Part 5 of Article 8 of the Law “On the High Anticorruption Court”, the issue of whether these candidates for the positions of judges of the HAC meet the integrity criteria (Part 4 of Article 8 of the Law “On the High Anticorruption Court”) should be considered at a special joint meeting of the HQCJ and the PCIE. Decision on the compliance of each of these 47 candidates with the integrity criteria should be approved by a majority of the joint composition of the HQCJ and the PCIE (provided that at least half of the members of the PCIE have voted for it). If the decision is not taken, the candidate is deemed to have terminated participation in the competitive selection.
5. CPLR expert suggestions on how to fix the problem using the legal instruments available in Ukraine
It is already known that on January 18 and 21, 2019, two special joint meetings of the HQCJ and the PCIE will take place to consider the issues of the compliance of these candidates with the integrity criteria. Ukrainian authorities represented by the HQCJ, representatives of the public and international institutions should make every effort to ensure that after these meetings the following candidates terminate their participation in the competitive selection:
- candidates who can not confirm the legality of origin of their property;
- candidates whose standard of living (or living standard of the members of their families) does not correspond to the declared income;
- candidates whose lifestyle does not correspond to the status of a judge of the HAC;
- candidates who do not have sufficient and necessary knowledge or practical skills to deal with cases under jurisdiction of the HAC.