Commission and donors have agreed on the Terms of Reference for Candidates for the Public Council of International Experts
The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine continues making arrangements to the competition for the positions of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) judges, including the work on the establishment of the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE).
With the purpose of the PCIE establishment supported by the EU Programme “European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative” (EUACI) in cooperation with interested international organizations, diplomatic institutions and international technical assistance projects, the Terms of Reference for Candidates for the Public Council of International Experts has been developed.
As noted earlier, according to the law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges”, the selection of the HACC judges is under the responsibility of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ), a state body of judicial self-governance composed of 16 commissioners.
Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On the High Anti-Corruption Court” stipulates that the Commission should, for the period of six years, establish the Public Council of International Experts as a subsidiary body to assist it with the preparation of decisions on the appointment of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
The Public Council of International Experts exercises its powers with the staff of six members appointed by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine exclusively at the nomination of international organizations with which Ukraine cooperates in the area of corruption prevention and counteraction in accordance with Ukraine’s international treaties.
The PCIE institutionally is a subsidiary body to the HQCJ, assisting it to ascertain whether a candidate-judge is qualified for the job, namely whether he or she:
- satisfies the criteria of integrity (whether the sources of origin of candidate’s assets are legal, the lifestyle of the candidate or family members is commensurate with the declared income, and the candidate’s lifestyle corresponds to his status);
- has the knowledge and practical skills to adjudicate cases within HACC’s jurisdiction.
PCIE in its work as a methodological basis for the evaluation criteria of candidates may apply, in particular, Opinions of the Consultative Council of European Judges, European Charter on the statute for judges (Council of Europe, 1998), Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (endorsed by Resolution 2006/23 of the UN Economic and Social Council dated July 27, 2006) and other well-known official documents of International organizations.
One of the requirements for candidates for the PCIE is at least five years of experience in other countries in procedural management, support of public prosecution in court or administration of justice in corruption-related cases.
The requirement of having gained the professional experience “in other countries” is understood as other countries than Ukraine. For international experts, the requirement is fulfilled if the working experience is gained in the respective national jurisdiction where the expert is holding his/her legal profession or any other foreign jurisdiction.
In terms of non-eligibility criteria for PCIE members, of particular relevance for international experts is that he/she has not been among the top management of a political party or had labor agreements or other contractual arrangements with a political party during the last five years. Furthermore, the expert cannot apply if he or she held a political office or had a representative mandate (e.g. as a member of national or local parliament/council) during the last ten years.
In order to inform the public, the HQCJ will make public the documents regarding the candidates on the official website.
The Commission hopes that international organizations that have received invitations to submit their proposals regarding the nominees to the PCIE will offer the most competent and the most experienced professionals to the PCIE.
We are recalling, that the international organizations should submit to the Commission their proposals regarding the nominees to the PCIE until
September 14, 2018.
