74% of judges under the results of the first six days of interviews have confirmed compliance with the occupied position
During the past two weeks, 286 judges from the first thousand were interviewed within the frameworks of qualification assessment. 212 of them have confirmed the compliance with the occupied position, in relation to the 64 judges there were declared a break – mainly due to the opinions of the PIC, 4 judges did not confirm the ability to administer justice.
The first thousand of judges who undergo the qualification assessment are in the stage of public interviews that are broadcast on the YouTube Channel of the HQCJU. This work was preceded by the launching in November 2017 of psychological testing and interviews with psychologists, passing the exam, and a detailed study of candidates’ dossiers, which consist of hundreds of pages that have been sent to the Commission from ten government agencies, including National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and National Agency on Corruption Prevention. Only those judges who successfully passed the two-level examination – anonymous written tests and practical assignment on the ability to form court decisions – were allowed to be interviewed. Thus, according to the works’ examination results, the exams have not been passed by 21 judges.
During six days – 23, 27, 28, 30 of March, 3 and 4 of April 2018, the members of the Commission interviewed 286 judges of local and appellate courts. 212 of this number of judges confirmed the ability to administer justice – they were considered corresponding to the occupied positions. “During the analysis of the judicial dossier, the members of the Commission shall check the compliance of the judge’s conduct with the requirements of legislation in the field of corruption prevention and the presence of facts on bringing the judge to the responsibility for the committed offenses. These are important factors that we pay attention when analyzing judicial dossiers and the interviews. The judges who have successfully passed the examinations and whose integrity criteria indicator does not require any further clarifications, will be able to continue their work in local and appellate courts, as it is very important for the administration of justice in all residential areas,” said Mr. Stanislav Shchotka, Deputy Chair of the HQCJU.
In addition, the Commission stated that during the first six days of interviewing and analyzing dossiers of judges, there was announced a break for the consideration of 64 judges. Mainly, these are the judges in whose respect opinions or information from the Public Integrity Council was submitted. Notwithstanding the fact that PIC has declared withdrawal from the participation in the qualification assessment, the Commission will carefully consider the inputs from the public sector representatives. “At the moment, we are waiting for the signatures of the PIC members on their documents. To eliminate the deficiencies of the documents there were provided 10 more days. We hope that these minimum requirements will be met, and the Commission will be able to consider the opinions regarding those judges in whose respect was announced a break”, said Mr. Mykhailo Makarchuk, the member of the HQCJU.
According to the results of six days of interviews, 4 judges have been considered as those who do not correspond to the occupied position. The Commission’s principled position concerning the qualification assessment procedure is evidenced by the fact that regarding these judges there were no PIC opinions. In the case of 4 judges, the qualification assessment was suspended (because of disciplinary matters), and regarding another 2 – the assessment was terminated (due to the dismissal).
A judge must score at least 670 out of 1000 points for successful passing of the assessment. In particular, the maximum number of points is distributed as follows: for the competence – 500 points, professional ethics – 250 points, integrity – 250 points. We would like to emphasize that the qualification assessment for 990 judges began in November 2017 and should end in May 2018. The second group of 1780 judges began examinations in February 2018 within the frameworks of the qualification assessment. The completion of interviews with these judges is scheduled for the end of 2018. Thus, the qualification assessment of the first thousand of judges will last 7 months, the second group will last up to 10 months. The assessment procedure, which is carried out in Ukraine for the first time, should be passed by 5700 judges. Its purpose is to check whether a judge corresponds to the occupied position.
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