Weekly analytics for 14 – 20 of June
Political Points of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform include a weekly expert analysis of the most important process in Ukraine in areas of constitutionalism, political parties and elections, governance and public administration reform, judiciary, combating corruption, criminal justice, etc.
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The European Commission identified the reform of the HCJ and the HQCJ as one of the preconditions for Ukraine's further European integration
Event
On June 17, the European Commission recommended that Ukraine be granted candidate status as a member of the European Union. The Commission noted that Ukraine had reached the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. One of the conditions for granting Ukraine candidate status, the Commission determined the finalization the integrity vetting of the candidates of the High Council of Justice (hereinafter – HCJ) members by the Ethics Council and selection of candidates to the High Qualification Commission of Judges (hereinafter – HCJC).
CPLR’s assessment
1. At the end of May, the Ethics Council resumped interviews with the HCJ candidates. On June 17, the interviews with four another candidates were conducted and, according to our estimates, the Ethics Council since the beginning of its activity has already interviewed 16 of 34 candidates admitted to the interviews. Thus, despite the martial law, the HCJ reform moving forward.
At the same time, as previously reported by the CPLR’s experts, an extraordinary congress of judges is scheduled for July 11-13, at which eight HCJ members are supposed to be elected. 60 candidates apply for these positions, whose integrity must be assessed by the Ethics Council before the congress convening, since according to the law, at the congress it is possible to vote only for those candidates recommended by the Ethics Council. This indicates that the Ethics Council should intensify interviews with the HCJ candidates, although it is unlikely that the council will be able to fully assess the integrity of all candidates before the Congress.
2. Regarding the reform of the HQCJ, on February 24 the Competition Commission temporarily suspended its work and still has not resumed it.