The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and foreign experts discussed international experience of Judicial Performance Evaluation, 24 April, 2015
The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in cooperation with the USAID/FAIR Project, the EU Project «Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine» and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) were held an international seminar on «Judicial Performance Evaluation» on 24 April 2015.
The event was organized within the framework of legislative amendments to the Law of Ukraine «On the Judicial System and Status of Judges», which introduces the qualification evaluation of judges. The Commission is authorized to carry out this Assessment approved by the Council of Judges of Ukraine procedure and criteria defined by Law.
During the opening session Mr Sergii Koziakov, Chairman of the Commission noted that the representatives of donor agency will help the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine to develop criteria for the qualification assessment in accordance with international standards. Mr Koziakov said «The task of the Commission is to carry out the assessment in a way that does not depreciate judges and our solutions were clear to all. The evaluation process will be transparent and well known in advance».
Mr David M. Vaughn, Chief of Party USAID FAIR Justice Project reported that with the adoption of the new Law «On the Judicial System and Status of Judges» the Commission faced the task of introducing a single assessment, transparent and standardized of judicial performance evaluation. «In a framework of continuous successful cooperation Project is ready to provide full assistance in achieving this important task. The workshop aims to create a forum for the presentation of international experience, review the mistakes of other countries and discuss the best ways to introduce judge’s evaluation system in Ukraine» said Mr Vaughn.
Mr Virgilijus Valancius, Team Leader of the EU Project «Support to the reforms of the justice sector in Ukraine» underlined that it is useful to learn the experience of other countries that have conducted qualification tests. «Our task is to prevent abuses during the evaluation process and gives no grounds for a future appeal to the European Court of Human Rights» said Mr. Valancius.
Mr Pim Albers (Netherlands), Mrs Reda Moliene and Mrs Salvija Kavalne (Lithuania), Mrs Carly Shrever (Austria), Mr Anatolie Turcan (Moldova), Mr Hartmut Rank (Germany), Mrs Ivana Ramadanovic (Serbia), international experts were discussed the principles, criteria, types and methods of judicial performance evaluation adopted and followed in different countries, as well as lessons the lessons learned from international practice.
Mrs Tina Gewis, Chief Rule of Law at OSCE / ODIHR told about the work of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in the sphere of judicial evaluation system in Moldova.
Mr Mykola Onishchuk, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJ) presented the report on «Initial Qualification Evaluation: European Standards and Implementation Mechanisms». Mr Onishchuk also recalled about regular evaluation for determining the need for the training of judges.
During the discussion participants analyzed the qualification requirements defined by the Law for judges (professional and personal social competence and the ability to administer justice), expressed on the most effective methods of assessment, and for the European Court of Human Rights, discussed the challenges and possible risks associated with the evaluation of the qualification of judges.
Mr Stanislav Shchotka, Secretary of the Qualification Chamber of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine told about the principles of qualification of judges and evaluation of the introduction of evaluation mechanisms within the framework of powers of the Commission. He noted that the Commission continues to work on local regulations which are developed in compliance with all the recommendations of experts and the conclusions of the Opinion №17 of CCJE from 2014.
Mr Shchotka also reported about creation of a working group on the draft provisions on conducting the judicial dossier. The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in cooperation with the State Administration of the Judiciary of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, and the national and international experts has been prepared and considered this document. During the seminar Mr Shchotka, who is the Head of the Working Group signed a position on the order of conducting the judicial dossier to send it for approval by the Council of Judges of Ukraine.
Mr Oleksandr Serdyuk and Mrs Lidiia Moskvych, Professors of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Mr Sergii Mudruk, Testing Exper and Mr Volodymyr Kravchuk, Judge of the Lviv District Administrative Court of the city told assessing the qualification of judges, judges and requirements for the valuation methods.
All recommendations of national and international experts will be used in the working group of the Commission to introduce a qualification evaluation system for judges.
Recall that members and representatives of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the High Council of Justice, the Supreme Council of Justice, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, judicial body, academics, international experts and representatives of donor agencies engaged in supporting the process of selection of judges and disciplinary practice in Ukraine were invited to the seminar.
