Regular assessment of judges in Ukraine, 4 March, 2016
Round table on topic “Regular assessment of judges in Ukraine as the way to identify individual needs of judges for improvement and stimulation to maintain the proper level of qualification and professional growth” was held on 4 March 2016.
The event was organized by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the USAID FAIR Justice Project, the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine,” the Council of Europe Project “Support to the Implementation of the Judicial Reform in Ukraine,” Joint European Union/Council of Europe Project “Consolidation of Justice Sector Policy Development in Ukraine.”
Among the roundtable participants there were members and representatives of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the High Council of Justice, the State Judicial Administration, NGOs, international programs and projects, national and international experts and judges.
Welcoming remarks were made by Mr. Sergii Koziakov, Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Ukraine, Mr. Mykola Onishchuk, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, Mrs. Valentyna Simonenko, Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, Mr. Ihor Benedysiuk, Chairman of the High Council of Justice, Mr. David M. Vaughn, USAID FAIR Justice Project Chief of Party, Mrs. Olena Trapeznikova, Senior Project Officer of the Joint European Union/Council of Europe Project “Consolidation of Justice Sector Policy Development in Ukraine.” All speakers stressed on importance of the event, since the assessment of judges is important not only for members of Themis, but also for society as a whole.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov, in particular, noted that the Commission is holding the initial qualification assessment of judges and since the assessment process has only begun then to talk about the results is too early.
Instead, Mr. David M. Vaughn reminded that the FAIR Justice Project provided technical and expert support to the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in qualification assessing of judges.
The event comprised of five sessions. Overall, in addition to speeches of Ukrainian experts, the roundtable participants had the opportunity to hear the views of top European experts from Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Belgium.
The discussion regarding international and European experience in qualification assessment and development of judges and prospects for Ukraine took place during the first session. Mr. Gerhard Reissner, Member of the Consultative Council of European Judges and Mr. Pim Alberts, Expert in the field of justice from the Netherlands told about the criteria for the assessment of judges contained in international instruments. The European Experts also told about the experience and practice of assessments in different countries.
The Lithuanian Expert Mrs. Salvija Kavalne marked the effectiveness of cooperation with the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the National School of Judges of Ukraine and told about recommendations given for the assessment of judges. At the same time, Belgian specialist Mr. Guy Van Craen stressed on the openness and fairness of the assessment. He also recalled that the obligation of judge is to be accountable.
The Secretary of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Mr. Stanislav Shchotka marked the importance of previous joint conferences with international experts, because their recommendations were taken into account during the development and approval of regulations governing the procedure for judicial assessment. He also drew attention to the fact that the Commission has begun the process of initial qualification assessment in conditions of acute social conflict, when the standards of the society in respect of judicial system are extremely high.
According to Mr. Shchotka among seven members of the Qualification Chamber of the Commission five of them are judges. The assessment is public and parties and journalists concerned can observe the assessment through online broadcasting. The Secretary of the Commission Qualification Chamber also spoke about the peculiarities of stages of the initial qualification assessment and told how the assessment of the first group of judges is conducting.
During the next sessions, the participants also discussed regular assessment of judges, the assessment of judges after having the results of training at the National School of Judges of Ukraine, assessment of judge by his/her colleagues and assessment of his/her work during the trial by public associations.
Mr. Roman Savchuk, Director of Professional Qualification of Judges and Judicial Candidates Department of the Commission Secretariat focused attention of participants on the features of regular assessment of judges prescribed by the Law of Ukraine “On Judiciary and the Status of Judges.” He noted that the regular assessment allows revealing the strengths and weaknesses of a judge. Thus, the judges who pass training at the National School of Judges of Ukraine will be able to improve their professional skills.
Following the roundtable there will be developed the recommendations that will allow introducing fair and transparent procedures in the process of regular professional performance assessment of judges.
