Steering Committee of the Ukrainian-Canadian Support to Judicial Reform Project held its regular meeting
On 16 March 2018 the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ukrainian-Canadian Support to Judicial Reform Project was held in Kyiv, in the Fairmont Hotel.
The meeting was attended by: Mr. Bronwyn Cruden, Deputy Director of the Canadian Development Cooperation Program of the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine, Mr. Valeriy Oliynyk, Senior Project Officer of the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine, Mr. Donald Chiasson, Legal and Education Director of the National Judicial Institute of Canada, Mr. Igor Osyka, Manager of the Support to Judicial Reform Project, Mr. Oleg Shakhov, Director of the International Programs Division, Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada, Ms. Nataliya Horodetska, Senior Program Manager, International Programs, Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada; Mr. Igor Benedesiuk, Chairman of the High Council of Justice, Mr. Oleg Tkachuk, Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, Mr. Mykola Onischiuk, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine; Mr. Zinovii Kholodniuk, Chairman of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, Ms. Larisa Rogach, Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court. At the event the Commission was represented by Ms. Svitlana Maksymova, member of the working group of the Communication Committee of the Judiciary, Head Specialist of the Sector for Working Support of the Commission’s Leadership.
The representatives of the pilot regions’ courts – Mr. Anatolii Martsynkevych, Chief Justice of the Khmelnytskii Region Court of Appeal, Mr. Valerii Belka, Chief Justice of the Zaporizhzha Region Court of Appeal, Ms. Natalia Bogatska, Chief Justice of the Odessa Commercial Court of Appeal, Chairman of the Association of Commercial Court Judges of Ukraine, Mr. Taras Antoniak, Chief Justice of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court, Chairman of the Multi-Agency Committee on the Access to Justice, reported on the achievements in the framework of Project realization.
In addition, the brief overview of the working results was presented by Mr. Donald Chiasson. He highly appreciated Ukraine’s achievements in its effort to create the independent judicial system and expressed his hope that the judiciary, which would ensure citizens fair and reliable dispute resolution, would be formed in Ukraine in the nearest future. “We want to help Ukraine to create fair and just judicial system,” – said Mr. Donald Chiasson.
Mr. Oleg Shakhov reported on the informational and communicative component of the program. Also, the brief reports on the state of Project realization were presented by partner organizations: the Supreme Court, the High Council of Justice, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration and the courts of pilot regions: Zaporizhzhya, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk.
Ms. Svitlana Maksymova informed the audience about the staffing procedures which the Commission should carry out in 2018. In particular, the Commission is required to hold the second competition to the Supreme Court, with the selection of judges and the qualification assessment of judges being in process. It is expected that by the end of 2018, 5300 judges will have passed the qualification assessment. Recently, the Commission has announced the competition for 21 positions to the IP Court, for which 234 applications have been submitted.
The Commission’s representative also spoke about the activities carried out by the Communication Committee of the Judiciary.
In general, the participants highly appreciated the Project’s activities and shared their plans for the next 2 years.
