The Council of Europe evaluated the procedures of selecting judges introduced within the judicial reform. New Report is released
“The rules regarding appointment of judges, decisions on their career, discipline, and dismissal are now much closer in line with the Council of Europe standards. The selection and appointment procedure is based on competition, merit and objective criteria, having regard to qualifications, professional skills and integrity. The new procedure has strengthened the process of appointing judges and should have a positive impact on public trust in the courts”, - the Report “Assessment of the 2014–2018 judicial reform in Ukraine and its compliance with the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe”, announced by the Council of Europe Project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” states.
The Report established, in particular, that a significant and welcome change to the system of judicial appointment has been the introduction of the guarantee of judges’ irremovability and the abolition of the previous arrangement of a five-year probationary period for judges as well as the depoliticization of this process.
Regarding the first competition to the Supreme Court, Experts of the Council of Europe noted that this procedure makes a great difference compared to the previous one. In their view, this welcomed trend should be encouraged and assessed in a positive way.
Experts point out that today this competition is considered successful, and the process itself is very positive for ensuring the objective selection of members of the Court, which should strengthen the independence of the judiciary and increase the level of professionalism of judges of the Supreme Court. The selection was praised by external observers for its transparency and thoroughness.
In addition, the Report notes that one of the biggest assets of the legal regulation is that it provides a procedure which is marked by transparency, objectivity and predictability. In this respect, it differs significantly from the previous one. The conduct of the procedure is based on a methodology announced well in advance and available to the candidates and to the public at large. The objective and subjective criteria for assessment are in relatively good balance.
It is also stated that the composition and selection of members of the judicial bodies involved in the selection and appointment process met the Council of Europe requirements.
European experts came to the conclusion that so far the results show a positive trend in improving the professionalism, efficiency and quality of the judiciary, and also in reducing the widespread corruption.
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