Mr. Sergii Koziakov informed about interim results of judicial reform in Ukraine at the fifth meeting of Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom, and Security of the EU-Ukraine Association Committee
On March 22, 2019, the fifth meeting of the Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom, and Security of the EU-Ukraine Association Committee, established by the decision of the Association Council in accordance with the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and its member states, took place in Kyiv.
Visa-free travel between Ukraine and the EU, justice sector reform, prevention and counteraction of corruption, protection of personal data, prevention and fight against organized crime, border management and migration became the main topics of the meeting.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov, Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine during the session “Implementation of Justice Sector Reform Strategy and related institutes” spoke about the interim results of the judicial reform as part of the staffing of the Ukrainian judiciary.
In particular, Mr. Sergii Koziakov informed European experts about the progress and outcome of the competition to the High Anti-Corruption Court and its Appeal Chamber. He noted that this was the first time that international experts, together with the Commission, were part of the administrative procedure of the selection of judges. The Chairman of the HQCJ said that based on the results of consideration of the Commission’s recommendations the High Council of Justice had already decided to submit to the President of Ukraine a proposal for the appointment of 10 judges of the Appeal Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court and 25 judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
According to Mr. Sergii Koziakov, in April this year, with the support of international partners, it is planned to conduct the training for future judges of the anti-corruption court.
The Chairman of the HQCJ also told that, in parallel with the competition to the anti-corruption instance, the Commission had held a second competition for vacant positions of judges of the cassation courts within the Supreme Court.
In addition, Mr. Sergii Koziakov noted that the Commission was currently conducting a competition to the High Court on Intellectual Property and the Appeal Chamber of this court.
Also, the Chairman of the HQCJ recalled that the Commission had launched a large-scale procedure of the qualification evaluation of all judges of Ukraine. He noted that currently the evaluation of more than 2,000 judges had been completed, and the evaluation of the rest of the judiciary was planned to have been completed by the end of this year.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov also informed about the selection of candidates for the position of a judge of a local court.
The Chairman of the HQCJ stressed that the Commission continued to work on improving the competitive procedures. “We are ready to change. We always remember that people are waiting for the result”, said Mr. Sergii Koziakov.
The European side positively assessed the progress in implementing judicial reform in Ukraine, in particular, noted the transparency and quality of the process of selecting judges of the anti-corruption court.
It should be noted that the Ukrainian delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and others.
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The EU-Ukraine Association Committee was formed by the decision of the Association Council between Ukraine and the European Union on December 15, 2014. Subcommittees are set up to assist the Association Committee, which is the permanent body of the Association Council. The Committee and the Subcommittees act in the composition of the delegations of Ukraine and the European Union.
