The Council of Europe, in contrast to Ukrainian politicians, highly appreciated the competition to the Supreme Court
Let us inform that within the framework of the Council of Europe assessment of the 2014-2018 judicial reform in Ukraine and its compliance with the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe, international expert Ms. Diana Kovatcheva has prepared a detailed Opinion "On the procedure of selection and appointment of judges to the new Supreme Court".
The Opinion notes that the competition to the Supreme Court was held with a high level of publicity, and the process itself covers a very complicated procedure that is used in Ukraine for the first time.
Moreover, the international expert notes that the development of a legislative framework for the competitive procedure has included not only the rules of national legislation, but also a large number of rules and methodologies based on international and European recommendations.
“The review of the legislative framework for the selection and evaluation of judges in Ukraine shows that, although there is a need for improvement, the procedures are largely in line with Council of Europe standards in this area. The legislative framework can be regarded as an impressive development, and its application should be encouraged in future procedures”, Opinion stated.
The document noted that the delay in the competition was due to the complexity of the selection and appointment process, and affected the timing of other planned processes, which in turn led to a total delay in the entire course of the reform. However, expert agrees that the overall changes are very positive, and that the complexity of the process guarantees that the independence of the judiciary is safeguarded and that there is no threat to the rule of law. The author is also convinced that with the reduction of the number of competitions and the use of the experience gained, in the future the procedure will become smother and faster, and the introduction of an automated system of keeping the judge files can greatly speed up and facilitate the work of the Commission.
In addition, according to an international expert, the public involvement in the selection and evaluation of candidates for a position of judge brings greater transparency and objectivity to the competition process, but should remain purely advisory to the Commission or the High Council of Justice.
Reference:
On September 19, 2019, the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine published the full text of the assessment of the 2014-2018 judicial reform in Ukraine and its compliance with Council of Europe standards and recommendations.
This assessment includes the Consolidated Summary, supplemented by four separate International Experts’ Opinions:
1) Opinion “Transfer to the three-level system of courts, judicial discipline, trust in the judiciary”;
2) Opinion “Judicial appointment, career, dismissal, self-governance of the judiciary, procedural links between the judiciary and the bar”;
3) Opinion “Participation of CSOs in the selection and assessment of the judiciary, training and assessment of the judiciary, system of judicial administration and the powers of court presidents”;
4) Opinion “Procedure of selection and appointment of judges to the Supreme Court in Ukraine”.
The evaluation of the 2014-2018 judicial reform in Ukraine was conducted in October 2017 – May 2019 within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Support to the implementation of judicial reform in Ukraine”.
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