Celebrations took place on the occasion of taking the judicial oath of office by the Supreme Court judges
On May 7, 2019, judges of the Supreme Court, appointed for the position for the first time, in the presence of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took an oath of a judge.
The ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Ukraine Mr. Sergii Koziakov, the Chairman of the Supreme Court Ms. Valentyna Danishevska, the Chairman of the High Council of Justice Mr. Volodymyr Govorukha, the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine Mr. Oleg Tkachiuk, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Mr. Yurii Lutsenko, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Mr. Oleksiy Filatov, members of the HQCJU, HCJ, representatives of international organizations and diplomatic institutions, academicians and judges of the Supreme Court, as well as media representatives.
The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko congratulated the newly appointed judges and noted that henceforth, the Supreme Court will work at almost full strength – with a total number of 193 judges. “The judiciary has a lot of tasks ahead. This is the securement of unity and predictability of judicial referral practice, and the completion of consideration of the many thousands of outstanding cases that our citizens have already been waiting for too long. But above all – it is the protection of the rights and freedoms of an ordinary person. And the Supreme Court is the last and main frontier of the rule of law in our country”, – Head of State emphasized.
He also reminded that within the framework of judicial reform the formation of the Supreme Court and the High Anti-Corruption Court was completed, judges who successfully passed the qualification evaluation were transferred to the new appellate courts. Now in line is the completion of competitions to the High Court on Intellectual Property, the qualification evaluation of the first instance judges and the selection of new judges to the courts of the first and appellate instances. The President of Ukraine said that these procedures should be completed in a year and a half.
Petro Poroshenko stressed that today neither the President nor the Parliament has any influence on the court and procedures for the appointment and dismissal of judges – this formula underlies judicial reform.”Don’t we remember when not for months, but for years we were waiting for a political decision on appointment or dismissal, giving a powerful political color. I am very pleased that these times are in the past,” – Head of State added. He noted that the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine were supported not only by 335 votes of Ukrainian parliamentarians but also fully endorsed by the experts of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the OSCE, USAID, and the public sector.
“The rules regarding open and transparent competitions, political neutrality of the Public Council of Justice and High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Members and such important providing and ensuring of financial guaranties for judicial independence, including fair salaries not only for judges, but also for officials of courts’ apparats – nevertheless I have been highly criticized for such proposals – were in the same way supported” – the President noted.
“The experience of involving the public in assisting the High Qualification Commission during the evaluation and competition procedures has become not only a norm for Ukraine, but also an example for other countries, especially in formation of the High Anti-Corruption Court. This Ukrainian experience has already been studying and implementing”, – Mr. Petro Poroshenko added.
In its turn, while welcoming newly appointed judges, Ms. Valentyna Danishevska noted that current Supreme Court judges, been working in intensive regime for a year and a half, had long been waiting for this important event – recruiting of new judges to the highest court in judicial system of Ukraine.
“We still do not know each other very well, but we are already united by the judicial oath, proclaimed today in the hall; we are united by the challenges facing us, and what the most importantly – we are united by the common responsibility that we have taken on before the people of Ukraine”, – the Chairman of the Supreme Court emphasized.
Ms. Valentyna Danishevska drew attention to the fact that during the period of the Supreme Court work, it has already considered almost 120 000 cases, but there is still ahead much work to do: now they are considering about 100 000 cases.
The SC Chairman expressed hope that the newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court would not only support the established standards and practice of the highest court in the judicial system of Ukraine but also help to improve it.
