Judicial reform roadmap.
REQUIREMENT 1
HQCJ
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Legislative amendments |
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relaunch the competition to the HQCJ;
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deprive the HCJ of the influence on the competition;
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establish the Selection Commission which consists of 3 international experts, 3 judges or retired judges nominated by the Council of Judges, 3 candidates nominated by the Public Integrity Council (PIC);
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the Selection Commission members are appointed by the Minister of Justice based on the nominations submitted by the international organizations, the Council of Judges and the PIC (the minister has no discretion);
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the HQCJ is obliged to adopt clear and certain assessment criteria for judges;
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the PIC is institutionalized; PIC’s negative opinion can be overruled by 15 out of 16 votes of the HQCJ members; in addition to its current powers, the PIC outside the qualification assessment can submit to the HCJ a disciplinary complaint regarding any judge on which the disciplinary proceeding is opened automatically; the PIC can initiate that the National Anti-Corruption Prevention agency conducts the judge’s lifestyle monitoring.
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Implementation |
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international organizations, the Council of Judges and the PIC nominate candidates to the Selection Commission;
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the Minister of Justice appoints members of the Selection Commission;
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the Selection Commission holds the competition to the HQCJ;
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the HCJ appoints the HQCJ members.
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HCJ (A full relaunch of the HCJ and broader participation of civil society experts in its formation require constitutional amendments)
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Legislative amendments |
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the HCJ members who unconstitutionality hold their offices for two consecutive terms (were members of the HCJ before the constitutional amendments of 2016) are dismissed by law;
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the non-compliance with the integrity criteria forms grounds for dismissal of the HCJ member;
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an Ethics Commission is established as an independent ad hoc body composed of 3 international experts, 3 judges or retired judges nominated by the Council of Judges, 3 candidates nominated by the PIC;
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members of the Ethics Commission are appointed by the Minister of Justice upon the nominations of the international organizations, the Council of Judges and the PIC (the Minister has no discretion);
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the Ethics Commission conducts ad hoc integrity checks of all HCJ members;
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HCJ members whose non-compliance with the integrity criteria is established by the Ethics Commission is dismissed by law;
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a new procedure for the formation of the HCJ is established – an open competition is held by the Selection Commission (the same that forms the HQCJ). The Selection Commission conducts integrity checks of all candidates, only a candidate shortlisted by the Selection Commission can be appointed to the HCJ. The Congress of Judges appoints HCJ members through electronic voting, in which all judicial corps participate;
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a new composition of HCJ disciplinary chambers: 50% are judges and 50% are civil society experts recommended by the Selection Commission as a result of open competition.
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Implementation |
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international organizations, the Council of Judges and the PIC nominate candidates to the Ethics Commission;
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the Minister of Justice appoints members of the Ethics Commission;
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the Ethics Commission conducts integrity checks of all HCJ members;
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powers of HCJ members who fail to comply with integrity criteria terminate;
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the Selection Commission holds a competition for the vacant seats in the HCJ;
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candidates whose integrity was confirmed by the Selection Commission are appointed as HCJ members;
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the Selection Commission holds a competition to the disciplinary chambers of the HCJ and recommends candidates for the appointment;
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the HCJ appoints members of the disciplinary chambers.
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REQUIREMENT 2
Screening and renewal of courts
The Supreme Court
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Legislative amendments |
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a separate chamber in the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court (SC) is created to conduct cassation review of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) decisions (judges are selected under the procedure equivalent to the HACC selection);
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the PIC can initiate disciplinary proceedings of the SC judges, in particular those who received PIC’s negative opinions during the competition to the SC.
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Implementation |
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the PIC conducts integrity checks of SC judges and in cases of non-compliance files disciplinary complaints;
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upon PICs complaints HCJ disciplinary chambers conduct disciplinary proceedings against SC judges and untrustworthy judges are dismissed;
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the renewed HQCJ selects judges to the separate chamber in the Criminal Cassation Court of the SC created to conduct cassation review of the HACC decisions;
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the commission which includes international experts conducts integrity checks of the candidates to the separate chamber and vetoes the untrustworthy;
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the HCJ recommends candidates for appointment to the separate chamber.
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The courts of first and second instance
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Legislative amendments |
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the PIC conducts integrity checks of the candidates to the courts of first instance;
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the reorganization or liquidation of a court established before the constitutional amendments of 2016 result in a new competition to the new court (para 5 clause. 16-1 of the transitional provisions of the Constitution).
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Implementation |
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the renewed HQCJ finishes the qualification assessment of judges in courts of first and second instances;
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the HCJ dismisses judges who failed to pass the qualification assessment;
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the HCJ selects candidates for vacant seats in courts of first and second instances, the PIC conducts integrity checks of the candidates;
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the HCJ recommends candidates for appointment.
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REQUIREMENT 3
New quality of administrative courts
Administrative court to review cases of national level
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Legislative amendments |
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the exclusive jurisdiction of the DACK (judicial review of all the decisions of the central government bodies) is transferred to a court judges of which are selected under the procedure equivalent to the HACC selection;
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the DACK becomes an ordinary district administrative court or merges with the Kyiv District Administrative Court, and as a result, a new administrative court is established with jurisdiction over the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
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Implementation |
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the renewed HQCJ selects judges to the court conducting judicial review of all the decisions of the central government bodies and to the new administrative court with jurisdiction over the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region;
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the commission which includes international experts conducts integrity checks of the candidates to the court conducting judicial review of all the decisions of the central government bodies and vetoes the untrustworthy;
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the PIC conducts integrity checks of the candidates to the new administrative court with jurisdiction over the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region;
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the HCJ recommends candidates for appointment to the court conducting judicial review of all the decisions of the central government bodies and the new administrative court with jurisdiction over the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
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REQUIREMENT 4
Renewed Constitutional Court
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Legislative amendments |
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a new procedure for the selection of the Constitutional Court (СС) judges: all candidates are selected by a single independent competition commission, consisting of experts supported by international partners, which subsequently is formed by co-optation. The commission establishes whether candidates comply with the new constitutional requirements (high ethical qualities and respected level of expertise);
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only candidates recommended by the competition commission can be appointed judges of the CC;
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the Congress of Judges appoints judges of the CC through electronic voting, in which all judicial corps participate.
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Implementation |
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the independent competition commission, consisting of experts supported by international partners, holds a competition for vacant seats in the CC;
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candidates recommended by the competition commission are appointed judges of the CC;
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in 2025 the majority of CC judges are appointed according to the new procedure which guarantees high integrity of the judges and their compliance with the new constitutional requirements.
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Judicial reform roadmap.
