At a meeting held on 13 September, members of the Council of Judges refused to delegate their representatives to the Ethics Council, which is tasked with checking the integrity of the HCJ members. This means that the Council of Judges, controlled by the judicial mafia, is sabotaging judicial reform.
Judicial reform envisages the establishment of the Ethics Council, an independent body that will assess the integrity of HCJ members and candidates to the position. According to the law, the Ethics Council must include 3 representatives from the Council of Judges of Ukraine. However, today the Council of Judges refused to delegate their candidates to the Ethics Council.
“Despite the close attention of MPs, journalists, the public and all key international partners of Ukraine, the Council of Judges blocked judicial reform without delegating its representatives to the Ethics Council. This is a direct violation of the law and disrespect to international partners, to whom Zelensky promised judicial reform. However, first of all, it is disrespect of all Ukrainians, to whom Zelensky and the Servants of the People promised justice, ” AntAC expert Halyna Chyzhyk commented.
It should be noted that last week international organizations assisting Ukraine in the field of judicial reform and combating corruption delegated experts to the Selection Commission that will select members of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and the Ethics Council to clean up the High Council of Justice. The nominated experts are the elite of the judicial and legal systems of the USA, the UK and the EU, for example, judges of the Supreme Courts of the largest US states, the Prosecutor General of Estonia and the Prosecutor General of the largest federal state of Germany, the Minister of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovenia.
We would like to recall that in October 2019, the Verkhovna Rada voted for judicial reform, in which international experts should be participating as well. However, then the High Council of Justice blocked it, levelling the role of international experts.