Expert discussion on the commencement of the competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court was held
On August 7, 2018, the Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Mr. Sergii Koziakov and the Deputy Chairman of the Commission Mr. Stanislav Shchotka participated in the expert discussion on conducting the competition for the positions of the High Anti-Corruption Court judges.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov told about the challenges that were facing the Commission during the competition. He reminded that the following day, on August 8, 2018, the acceptance of documents from candidates for the participation in the competition would commence. The submission deadline is 38 calendar days.
The Commission’s Chairman stressed the importance of establishing the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE), which will assist the HQCJ during the competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
“We have consultations with international organizations, diplomats, donors, working in Ukraine, almost every day, where we discuss our actions to create the Public Council of International Experts”, said Mr. Sergii Koziakov.
The HQCJ has already sent letters to international organizations regarding the nomination of candidates to the PCIE. As you know, organizations should offer at least 12 candidates so that the Commission selects six of them.
“In addition to the requirements for candidates, envisaged by the Law, we also have two requests: we want these people to be the most professional in the performance of the functions of a member of the PCIE and that there were not only prosecutors, because we are not creating another prosecutor’s office, but we are establishing the court”, said Mr. Sergii Koziakov.
The Commission also believes that it will be fair if the documents received from international organizations on the list of candidates to the PCIE will be made public on the HQCJ’s website. This will enable all citizens of Ukraine to make their own conclusions. At the same time, the mass media can find out in international organizations, according to which criteria they will choose candidates to the PCIE.
According to Mr. Stanislav Shchotka, the Commission received 782 notifications of intentions to take part in the competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court. He also recalled that judges having work experience of not less than five years, as well as academics, advocates and lawyers having the combined experience of at least seven years could take part in the competition.
“On August 2, 2018, we announced the competitions for 27 judicial positions of the High Anti-Corruption Court and 12 judicial positions of the Appeal Chamber of this court. A minimum of 35 judges should be appointed so that the court becomes operational”, said Mr. Stanislav Shchotka.
The Deputy Chairman of the HQCJ also described the stages of conducting the competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court and the peculiarities of the procedure of selecting judges.
The event was organized by the Ukrainian Bar Association together with the Ukrainian representative office of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International with the participation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
