Weekly analytics of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform 5 — 11 July, 2022
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Competition Commission for the HQCJ members selection resumes its activity
Event
On July 8, the Competition Commission for the selection of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (hereinafter – the HQCJ) members announced the resumption of the competition and the meeting scheduled for July 13.
CPLR’s assessment
On February 24, due to the introduction of martial law, the Competition Commission temporarily suspended its activities. At that time, the submission of documents by candidates for participation in the competition for vacant positions of the HQCJ members was ongoing. The relevant stage was supposed to end on March 4, and therefore, at its meeting on July 13, the Competition Commission will presumably extend the deadline for submitting the documents.
After finalizing the acceptance of documents from the applicants, the competition should be held in two stages. During the first stage, the Competition Commission will analyze the documents submitted by the applicants, using the results to determine the list of candidates admitted to the interview. During the second stage, the Commission will interview the selected applicants and determine the list of candidates recommended to the High Council of Justice for appointment. According to the law, the Competition Commission must recommend at least two candidates for each vacant position of the HQCJ member (currently, there are 16 such vacant positions).
As a reminder, the Competition Commission consists of six members – three representatives from the judicial community and three international experts. At the same time, international experts have the tie-breaking vote in decision-making process of the Commission.
It should be emphasized that the completion of the selection of candidates for the HQCJ is one of the conditions for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership of the European Union (see details in the weekly analysis for June 14-20, 2022). Furthermore, the formation of the HQCJ’s new composition through a transparent selection procedure, conducted by a competition commission with international participation, is part of Ukraine’s commitments before the European Union undertaken back in 2020.