Every fourth judge has not passed the qualification assessment – first results
According to the results of 12 days of interviewing the first thousand of judges, 431 judges (75% of judges) comply with the occupied position, 16 Themis representatives were recognized as those who have not confirmed the ability to administer justice. Regarding 103 judges, a break was announced, in particular due to the improperly drawn Public Integrity Council opinions.
Interviews with judges of the first thousand are being held in the HQCJ panels all day long in the online mode three times a week. According to the results of interviews that were taking place from 23 March to 20 April this year, 578 local and appellate court judges have been interviewed. During these days, the following decisions were delivered:
431 judges have confirmed the ability to administer justice, meaning that these judges were recognized as being in compliance with the occupied position;
16 judges were recognized as not being in compliance with the occupied position;
the break was announced with regard to 103 judges;
the qualification assessment was suspended in relation to 23 judges;
the assessment was terminated in relation to 2 judges;
the consideration of the issue was postponed in relation to 3 judges.
Only those judges who successfully passed the two-level examination – anonymous written tests and practical assignment on the ability to draft court decisions – were admitted to be interviewed. 31 judges did not pass the exam, those judges were not admitted to be interviewed accordingly, and are subject to dismissal.
It should be emphasized that the Commission has not received any opinions or information from the Public Integrity Council regarding 14 of 16 judges who were recognized as not being in compliance with the occupied position. Judges who delivered judgments on Maidan cases and were unable to explain the source of their property and had other inconsistencies in their declarations are among them. Instead, some information about judges appears on the PIC website after the judge has already been interviewed.
A break was announced with respect to 103 judges due to the Commission’s queries regarding the judge’s dossier, as well as the Public Integrity Council opinions, which were submitted to the Commission without due formalization, in particular, without signatures of the PIC members who voted for the adoption of those opinions. The PIC has been granted additional 10 days for elimination of the deficiencies so that the HQCJ will be able to take them into consideration. The decision regarding those judges will be taken later in accordance with the assessment schedule. The same as with regard to 23 judges, in respect of whom the assessment was suspended due to the open disciplinary proceedings in the High Council of Justice, as well as the existing grounds for judge’s disciplinary liability. Thus, with regard to 25% of judges, the issue of their further career remains open.
“The task of assessing all judges of the country is truly challenging, but absolutely realistic. All assessment procedures are organized in a clear and coherent manner, in accordance with the law and international standards. Procedure schedules are not a secret – judges who are subject to the assessment procedure, as well as the PIC are able to organize their activities in a way to adhere to them. In my opinion, the best way for the PIC to promote the renewal of the judicial corps is to come back to execution of their direct duties stipulated by law. Despite the significant number of judges who have not confirmed the compliance with the occupied position without respective PIC opinions, this institution is important for the assessment purposes”, said Mr. Mykhailo Makarchuk, the HQCJ member.
The first thousand of judges who undergo the qualification assessment are in the stage of public interviews that are being broadcast on the HQCJ’s YouTube Channel. This work was preceded by launching in November 2017 psychological testing and interviews with psychologists, the two-level exam, and the detailed study of candidates’ dossiers, which comprises materials obtained by the Commission from numerous governmental bodies and agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine.
We are recalling that since June 2016 2,500 judges have resigned, in particular, because of reluctance to undergo the qualification assessment. And this is 31% of the total number of judges of the country.
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