Reform of the judiciary: Council of Europe advises Ukrainian colleagues, April 28, 2015
The Commission took part in the third meeting of the working group of the EU Project «Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine» held on April 28, 2015 in Kyiv.
The representatives of the High Council of Justice, Supreme Court of Ukraine, Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Non-Governmental Organizations and national experts were visited the meeting of working group.
Mr Carsten Mahnke, the international expert of the Council of Europe informed the participants about European standards, guidelines and practices in the field of justice. He elaborated on the role of the Council of Europe as an organization that sets standards for judges.
Mr Đuro Sessa, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, President of the Association of Judges of Croatia, a member of the Consultative Council of European Judges, Vice President of the International Association of Judges (IAJ) shared with participants about experience of reforming the State Judicial Council of the Republic of Croatia (Državno sudbeno vijeće Republike Hrvatske).
Croatian judge stopped on the order of selection of judicial candidates in Croatia and recent developments in this field. In particular, today in Croatia sustained debate on the abolition of the mandatory term of two years training judicial candidate at the Academy of Judges of Croatia.
During the discussion, participants violated the reform of the judiciary, the involvement of civil society in this process, formation of legal awareness in society and ensure the independence of judges in the new environment. «Judges should be aware of the purpose for which reformed the system in which they work,» - said Mr Đuro Sessa.
Also, members of the working group were presented a report on the implementation of the Project in March-April 2015 and plans for the May-September 2015.
