Conflict of interest in the activities of judges
The representatives of the Commission took part in the round table on "Conflict of interest in the activities of judges: definition, types and solutions", which was organized by USAID "Fair justice" in cooperation with the Project of European Union "Support for Justice Reforms in Ukraine" held on June 25, 2015.
Mr. Vasyl Yanitskyi, Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy and Justice, David Vaughn, Chief of Party of USAID FAIR Justice Project Ms. Valentyna Simonenko, President of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, Ms. Nataliia Volkovytska, Member of the High Council of Judges, judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, High specialized courts, members of the Judicial Council of Ukraine, representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, Ministries of Ukraine, NGOs, national and international experts, lawyers were among the participants.
The round table was organized to analyze types of conflicts of interest in judicial activities and methods of separation of real and potential conflicts of interest as a practical matter.
During the meeting, participants discussed ways to resolve conflicts of interest by the Council of Judges of Ukraine and the means to enforce the law in this area and avoid conflicts of interest.
Mr Artūras Driukas, Expert from Lithuania, Judge of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania introduced the participants of the round table to the European experience in resolving the conflict of interest for judges. Ms. Reda Moliene, Acting director of the National Courts Administration of the Republic of Lithuania and Ms. Salvija Cavalne, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law of the Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius, Lithuania) took part in the discussion.
The participants expressed the need to amend existing legal acts that would resolve the issue of conflicts of interest in the activities of a judge on the results of the roundtable.
Mr Adis Hodzic, Senior Advisor for Statistics, Secretariat High Judicial and Prosecutorial of the Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina gave presentation on characteristics of budget of the judicial systems in Austria, Netherlands, Germany and France for representatives the judiciary.
