Presentation of regular Report “Attitude of Ukrainian Citizens to Judicial System” and Opinion No. 23 of the Consultative Council of European Judges
On December 18, 2020, the regular Report on the results of the study “Attitude of Ukrainian Citizens to Judicial System” and Opinion No. 23 of the Consultative Council of European Judges “The role of associations of judges in supporting judicial independence” were presented at a round table via video-conference. The event was organized by the Supreme Court and the Council of Europe Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine Project.
Representatives of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the High Anti-Corruption Court, the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, courts of first and appellate instances, associations of judges, civil society, and the Council of Europe took part in the event.
In October and November 2020, the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov, with the support of the Council of Europe Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine Project, conducted sociological surveys on the attitude of Ukrainian citizens to the judiciary and their assessment of various aspects of the court activity. The study includes a representative (national) survey of Ukrainian citizens, as well as a survey of participants in court hearings at the exit from court premises, and contains a comparative analysis with the results of previous all-Ukrainian surveys for 2012, 2017 and 2019.
Thus, assessing various aspects of the court’s activity, respondents who were interviewed under a nationwide sample, for most indicators express a better assessment than in 2017. Interviewed respondents at the exit from court premises provide the same assessment as in previous years. According to the results of the study, the high level of negative attitude towards courts is largely formed by two factors: the negative information field, and the factor of financial and political influence on judges.
The Chairman of the Supreme Court Valentyna Danishevska addressed the participants of the event. She noted that in the conditions of staff shortage, Ukrainian judges handling about 4 million court cases every year. This affects the timing of justice, which directly affects users of court services and shapes their overall impression of the court process. At the same time, the tendency to gradually increase citizens’ trust in the court shows that the daily hard work of judges and court staff gives positive results.
Andrii Ovsiienko, Chairman of the High Council of Justice, pointed out that society should perceive a judge as an independent entity that administers justice. Thus, citizens’ trust in the court is directly influenced by the work of judicial authorities. In his opinion, the priority task, for now, is to reestablish the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, on whose activities completion of already started competitions along with the qualification evaluation of more than two thousand judges depends on. Besides, in 2021, the powers of a significant number of judges appointed for a five-year term will be expired, and cannot be renewed until such time the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine would be formed.
These circumstances could bring to the inefficient use of budgetary funds, which also affects the trust in the court.
In turn, Bohdan Monich, Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, noted that the trust in the court among the interviewed participants of court hearings at the exit from the court is much higher than among the participants in the nationwide survey. The participants of the court hearings highly appreciated conditions of waiting, punctuality of hearings and conditions of consideration of the case, the time interval between the summons to the court and the hearing of the case, as well as the attitude and courtesy of judges and court staff. At the same time, the size of the court fee was positively assessed, which in the opinion of the majority of respondents is affordable. Bohdan Monich also pointed out that in previous years a negative image of the judiciary had been formed, in particular through the media. According to the Chairman of the CJU, such an attitude must be overcome through communication. Thus, Opinion No. 23 of the CCJE “The role of associations of judges in supporting judicial independence” (hereinafter – the Opinion) states that one of the tasks of associations of judges is fostering the knowledge and information of the media and the general public about the role of judges, the judiciary and the rule of law.
In general, the Opinion is intended to define the goals, status and the role of associations of judges in supporting judicial independence. The survey of the member states of the Council of Europe showed that there is a great variety of associations of judges. Their key tasks are to protect the independence of the judiciary against any infringements, claiming satisfactory working conditions, aiming for adequate remuneration and social security, rejecting unfair criticism and attacks against the judiciary and individual judges, establishing, promoting and implementing ethical standards, and safeguarding nondiscrimination and gender balance.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, representative of Ukraine in the Consultative Council of European Judges Viktor Horodovenko noted that in its Opinion the CCJE approves the participation of associations of judges in the legislative procedure in the case of draft laws regarding the justice field which are put forward by the executive power. In particular, the Opinion addresses that the position of associations of judges should be requested and considered in respect of judicial reforms and projects including budgetary issues and the allocation of resources, working conditions and all aspects of the status of judges.
The Secretariat of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine was represented at the event by the Head of the Secretariat Olena Ponomarenko and the Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department Iuliia Tkachenko.
Reference:
The Support to Judicial Reform in Ukraine Project is being implemented with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is a continuation of the work undertaken by the Council of Europe on the reform of the judiciary in Ukraine. It aims at a further approximation of the Ukrainian justice system to the Council of Europe standards and recommendations.
All news