Measures within preparation for the initial qualification assessment of judges
Information about
providing initial qualification assessment of judges by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine
Under paragraph 6 of Chapter II “Transitional Provisions” of the Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the right to a fair trial” the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine shall provide an initial qualification evaluation of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the high specialized courts, appellate and local courts to decide on their ability to administer justice in appropriate courts. Pursuant to the above requirements of the Law the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine takes a number of organizational and methodological measures.
Among already taken measures the HQCJU:
- Established within the structure of the Commission Secretariat the Department of Professional Training of Judges and Judicial Candidates, the composition of which envisages structural divisions responsible for:
- Developed the Regulation on Procedure of Maintenance of Judicial Dossier, which had been approved by the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 5 June, 2015.
- Received from the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine 318 judicial dossiers of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and high specialized courts
- To ensure full and proper filling of judicial dossier with necessary information, submitted the requests to central government bodies, institutions and organizations the competence of which includes disposal of information that will be displayed in the judicial dossier. In particular, the requests were sent to:
- Formed the list of judges appointed to the post of judge for the first time - in respect of which the Commission shall consider question of recommendation for election to a lifetime judicial position - to form the judicial dossier of such judges during 2015 in the first place.
- In cooperation with the experts of the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine”, USAID FAIR Justice Project and the Council of Judges of Ukraine, developed the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of a judge submitting it to the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 10 July, 2015.
- Held a consensus meeting with the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 13-15 August, 2015 and discussed the proposals and amendments to the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of a Judge upon the results of its consideration by the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 22 July, 2015.
- Completed the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of a Judge with taking into account the experts’ Conclusions and Recommendations of the USAID FAIR Justice Project and the results of the consensus meetings and repeatedly decided to send the document for approval to the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 18 August, 2015.
- Developed the Regulation on Examination Procedure and Its Evaluation Methodology During the Qualification Assessment of a Judge, which in accordance with the decision of the Commission was submitted to the Council of Judges of Ukraine for approval on 27 August, 2015.
- Received from the National School of Judges of Ukraine database of test questions to ensure the procedure for qualification assessment of judges in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges.”
- Prepared and sent letters to the Supreme Court and the high specialized courts of Ukraine requesting to provide information about suitable dates (with time scheduled hearings) for conducting initial qualification assessment of these courts’ judges through September 2015 for further development of schedule for initial qualification evaluation.
- maintaining judicial dossier;
- ensuring and holding the examination during qualification evaluation;
- providing methodological support for training of judges and judicial candidates in cooperation with the National School of Judges of Ukraine;
- organizational measures to ensure the qualification assessment and selection of judges.
- State Fiscal Service of Ukraine;
- State Financial Inspection of Ukraine;
- Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine;
- General Prosecutor of Ukraine;
- Ministry of Justice of Ukraine;
- Security Service of Ukraine;
- High Council of Justice;
- Council of Judges of Ukraine;
- National School of Judges of Ukraine.
Pending measures for the HQCJU:
- To develop schedule of initial qualification assessment of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and high specialized courts.
- To ensure full and proper filling information and data of judicial dossier of appeal and local courts’ judges that during September 2015 - March 2016 will be transferred by the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine.
Measures to be implemented after approval by the Council of Judges of Ukraine the Procedure and Methodology of Qualification Assessment of a Judge, Regulation on Examination Procedure and Its Evaluation Methodology During Qualification Assessment of a Judge:
- Methodological support of the Commission for conducting initial qualification assessment, including to ensure common approaches in assessing judges:
- Creation of standardized forms of fixing the results upon study of the judicial dossier.
- Development of assessment blanks for fixing the results of qualification assessment of a judge.
- Formation together with the National School of Judges of Ukraine of databases of test and practical tasks with taking into account principles of instance and specialization of judges.
- Development together with the National School of Judges of Ukraine of retraining programs for judges in case their fail to confirm the ability of justice administration in the appropriate court upon the results of initial qualification assessment.
- Developing the mechanism of access of the publicity and stakeholders to all stages of qualification assessment with the aim to ensure full transparency;
- Ensuring anonymity during testing to achieve the most objective results;
- Holding training seminars for Commission inspectors on the procedure and methodology of the assessment;
- Holding training seminars for Members of the Commission in order to ensure uniform standards of the assessment of judges, including the unified scenario of interview with a judge;
- Working out methods of analysis for compliance of judges’ work indicators with criteria that will be used during the qualification assessment;
- Development of qualification requirements for exam during the initial qualification assessment upon the results of second qualification assessment of a judge.
