Working Meeting with the EU experts and representative of the Ukrainian Bar Association, 27 April, 2016
On 27 April 2016 there was held a meeting of Mr. Mykola Patriuk, Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber with the European Union experts and representative of the Ukrainian Bar Association.
The event was organized as part of implementation of the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” in order to discuss the comments of experts regarding amendments to the Regulations of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, approved by the Commission Decision as of 8 June 2011 № 1802/zp-11.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Mykola Patriuk, Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber, Mrs. Olena Vashchuk, Head of Commission Inspectors Service, Mr. Mykola Mykoliuk, Head of Legal Department, representatives of the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine:” Mr. Artūras Driukas, judge of the Appeal Court of Lithuania, Mr. Petro Pavlychenko, Expert in Anticorruption Matters, Mrs. Yulia Zemlytska, Project National Expert and Mrs. Yaryna Dupai, Law-drafting Activities Coordinator of the Ukrainian Bar Association.
Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber Mykola Patriuk told about development of the latest amendments to the Regulations, adopted on 29 February 2016. He stressed that the main priority in this process was the following of the rule of law principle.
Judge of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania Mr. Driukas familiarized the participants with the Lithuanian experience in disciplinary proceedings against judges.
Head of the Commission Inspectors Service Mrs. Olena Vashchuk noted that during the period of the Commission’s work in new composition (from 9 December 2014) there were received 23 000 complaints against judges. These complaints mostly are of an appellate character and only overload the Commission.
Law-drafting Activities Coordinator of the Ukrainian Bar Association Mrs. Yaryna Dupai spoke about plans to print information materials for citizens on how to write a complaint against the judge to the Commission.
Expert in Anticorruption Matters Mr. Petro Pavlychenko pointed out that the Commission has great credibility of the community and is the only body that equally accessible for both judges and citizens.
Head of the Legal Department Mr. Mykola Mykoliuk told about participation of the Commission in developing the Draft Law No 4180 “On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine on Improvement of Certain Provisions of Legislation on Judiciary and the Status of Judges,” the adoption of which should discharge the workload of the Commission.
Whereas Law-drafting Activities Coordinator of the Ukrainian Bar Association Mrs. Yaryna Dupai expressed its intention to prepare a letter to the Committee on Legal Policy and Justice in support of the Draft Law by deputies of the Parliament of Ukraine - members of the UBA.
Finally, the experts noted that their recommendations were largely used by the Commission in the new edition of the Regulations, so soon they will send more actualized comments.
Reference:
The EU-funded Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” aims to support consolidated justice sector-wide reforms in Ukraine. The project foresees direct involvement of EU Member states and continues until the end of 2016.
The project brings together at the discussion table all justice sector stakeholders in order to assist them with the development of the joint sector-wide reform strategy. The strategy will be implemented through a robust sector coordination mechanism and will hinge on a tight implementation schedule backed by a multi-year financial commitment from the Ukrainian Government.
