Deputy Chairman of the Commission participated in the Fifth meeting of the International Advisory Council of the High Council of Justice
On September 11, 2019, the Fifth Session of the International Advisory Council at the High Council of Justice attended by Mr. Stepan Gladii, Deputy Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine took place.
International Advisory Council is a standing collegiate advisory body established under the HCJ in accordance with its decision dated 13 June 2017 to develop and maintain international relations between the HCJ, the bodies and institutions of the justice system of Ukraine and foreign countries, as well as international organizations, in particular, to implement the Justice Sector Reform Strategy for 2015–2020, approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated May 20, 2015, and implement other tasks of judicial reform in Ukraine.
Representatives of the EU Pravo-Justice Project, the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) to Ukraine, the USAID New Justice Program, the Ukrainian-Canadian Support to Judicial Reform Project, the US Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, as well as bodies and institutions of the justice system, in particular the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the Judicial Protection Service, the State Enterprise “Information Judicial Systems” discussed the state of implementation of this strategy, as well as directions for further justice system reform.
The discussion also raised the issue of the critical need to fill the judicial corps with new judges. In particular, Mr. Stepan Gladii, Deputy Chairman of the Commission, noted that following the results of the competition announced for filling 505 vacancies of judges in local general courts on July 2, 2019, the Commission submitted recommendations to the High Council of Justice on the appointment of 467 candidates as judges of 263 courts. Thus, justice can be restored in 16 courts. And only in two courts of Ukraine (Avdiivskyi City Court of Donetsk Region and Stanychno-Luhansk District Court of Luhansk Region) justice will not be administered. The Commission’s representative also informed that on September 20, 2019, the Commission would consider recommending appellate court judges to be transferred to the judicial positions to another court of the same or lower level without competition.
In addition, participants of the event exchanged their views on improving the disciplinary practice of the High Council of Justice in accordance with expert recommendations, the state of creation of the Judicial Protection Service, prospects for implementation of the Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System, overcoming the shortage of judicial staff in Ukraine, as well as other relevant issues.
