Approval procedure of qualification assessment of judges has not been completed
According to the paragraph 4 of Article 83 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” the procedure and methodology of qualification assessment of judge shall be defined by the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine in consultation with the Council of Judges of Ukraine.
To fulfill these requirements of the law the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine developed the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of Judges (hereinafter referred as “Procedure”).
According to the Commission's Decision of 10 July, 2015 the drafted Procedure was submitted to the Council of Judges of Ukraine for its approval as prescribed by law.
The Council of Judges of Ukraine rendered Decision №71 of 22 July, 2015 whereby denied in approval of the Procedure and submitted it to the Commission for revision, based on the remarks of the Council of Judges of Ukraine and Ukrainian courts. The specified Decision and remarks were officially delivered to the Commission on 10 August, 2015.
In a very short time the Commission finalized the remarks of the Council of Judges of Ukraine and upon conciliation meeting with representatives of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, held on 13-14 August, 2015, it submitted the agreed text of the Procedure to the Council of Judges of Ukraine for final approval on 18 August, 2015.
Upon the consideration of agreed Procedure by the Council of Judges of Ukraine there was rendered a Decision №89, by which the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of Judges with new remarks was approved on 3 September, 2015.
The remarks expressed by the Council of Judges of Ukraine were officially received by the Commission on 11 September, 2015. As follows from the analysis of these remarks, they were not discussed during the conciliation meeting held on 13-14 August, 2015. They also were not provided as propositions of Ukrainian courts to the Decision of the Council of Judges of Ukraine №71 of 22 July, 2015 and were significantly different from conceptual approaches to qualification assessment defined during revision of Procedure.
Pursuant to Article 84 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine also submitted for approval by the Council of Judges of Ukraine the Regulation on Examination Procedure and Its Evaluation Methodology on 21 August, 2015. The Council of Judges of Ukraine considered the specified document on 10 September, 2015 and approved the text, including the remarks. Subject and provisional consideration of remarks were made by the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 17 September, 2015, but as of 21 September, 2015 the Commission officially has not received the final edition of remarks yet.
In order to implement the provisions of the law on initial qualification assessment of judges the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine jointly with the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine has drafted and now is ensuring the maintaining judicial dossier of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and high specialized courts. The Commission also works on updating the information to be contained in the dossier. In particular, it has sent requests to the High Council of Justice, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and others.
The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine is waiting for official receipt of the remarks from the Council of Judges of Ukraine to continue its work on insuring the initial qualification assessment of judges.
The Commission emphasizes that certain important measures for holding initial qualification assessment, namely, planning specific dates of the exam and invitation of judges, forming the final test and practical tasks data bases, publication and informing judges with procedure of initial qualification assessment to give them time for preparation, clarification and updating the information contained in judicial dossier to be ready for use during interview with the judge, etc., can be taken only after the final approval of the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of Judges and Regulations on Examination Procedure and Its Evaluation Methodology During Qualification Assessment.
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