“We have already begun to draw the judicial system out of the turbulence zone”, - the Chairman of the Commission Mr. Sergii Koziakov
At the XV Congress of Judges of Ukraine, held in Kyiv on 5 and 6 March 2018, the Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine reported on the work of the body over the last few years and its plans for the current year.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov noted that during the last term of office of the Commission’s members, the current legislation of Ukraine was changing several times.
In particular, the Chairman of the Commission focused on the results of the competition to the Supreme Court and stressed that the competition of such magnitude had never before been held throughout Europe. He also noted that many experts highlighted the high quality of this competition’s organization. Moreover, many European experts noted the possibility of adopting the Ukrainian experience in conducting such competitions.
As Mr. Sergii Koziakov has informed, recently the decision to start the three-month training for judges’ assistants in the National School of Judges of Ukraine has been adopted. Upon the completion of the training, the qualification examination will be conducted, and then – the competition for vacant judicial positions.
The Chairman of the Commission also told about the immediate plans to solve the personnel issue in the judicial branch of power. Among other things, soon it is planned to hold the second stage of the competition to the Supreme Court, to which, according to the Commission’s preliminary estimates, more than 500 applications will be filed. The agenda also includes the transfer of judges of the High Specialized Courts and the Supreme Court of Ukraine. However, these procedures may be accompanied by some difficulties due to the lack of clear regulation under the legislation. In addition, it is planned to transfer 5.5 thousand judges in connection with the Decree of the President of Ukraine on the liquidation and establishment of district courts.
Answering the questions of the delegates of the congress on the possibility of conducting the qualification assessment of all acting judges simultaneously, the Chairman of the Commission told that that day, unfortunately, there was no technical possibility to conduct testing for all the judges in one room simultaneously (because during that procedure it was necessary to use several thousand computers simultaneously).
As to the terms of the assessment, Mr. Sergii Koziakov stressed that the members of the Commission were positive: “We will try to complete all the procedures related to the qualification assessment by the end of the year”.
The Chairman of the Commission drew attention to the fact that the test base, which comprises the tests for the qualification assessment, was updated: “We have already begun to draw the judicial system out of the turbulence zone”, - said Mr. Sergii Koziakov optimistically.
The full recording of Mr. Sergii Koziakov’s speech is available on the YouTube Channel of the Council of Judges of Ukraine at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwTm8EFBYoo&t=8759s
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