Round table “Standards of the Council of Europe concerning assessment of judges and the Rules of Procedure of the Public Integrity Council”
On 12 June 2017 the representatives of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine took part in the round table “Standards of the Council of Europe concerning assessment of judges and the Rules of Procedure of the Public Integrity Council”, organised by the Council of Europe Project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine”.
The Commission was represented by Mr. Sergii Koziakov, the Chairman of the Commission, and Mr. Stanislav Shchotka, the Secretary of the Qualification Chamber of the Commission.
During the event, Ms. Diana Kovatcheva, the Deputy Ombudsman of Bulgaria, Doctor of international law and international relations, the international expert of the Council of Europe, presented the Opinion on the Rules of Procedure of the Public Integrity Council and provided a number of recommendations for improving the working procedures of the PIC.
In particular, in the Opinion, the expert of the CoE focused on issues of independence and accountability of judges and candidates for the position of a judge; powers, composition, and opinions of the PIC, as well as on the evaluation procedures of the PIC.
The document emphasizes that the PIC only contributes to the work of the HQCJ in terms of evaluation and can not make a final decision on the integrity or professional ethics of an individual judge.
The participants of the meeting also exchanged views on how the Council of Europe standards could be used more widely during the qualification assessment of judges in Ukraine and suggested recommendations on the harmonization of the principles of independence and accountability of judges during their qualification assessment.
The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the High Council of Justice, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, Public Integrity Council, judges of courts of all instances and jurisdictions, public and international organizations and other specialists in the legal field.
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The Project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” is supported through the financial contribution of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is a continuation of work of the Council of Europe on reforming the judicial system of Ukraine. It aims to ensure a further approximation of Ukrainian judicial system to the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe.
