Ukrainian Justice Reform Faces Setbacks

The Venice Commission is a constitutional law advisory body for the Council of Europe (Flickr).

Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission, encouraged Ukraine’s Council of Judges to appoint members to the Ethics Council in a statement on September 29, citing a critical need for judicial reform. “It is now urgent that the Council of Judges of Ukraine make, with no further delay, its own appointments, which are essential for the implementation of the reform. Indeed, all the concerned authorities should refrain from taking any measure, action, inaction or procedure resulting in a delay in the setting-up of the Ethics Council, which could cause irreparable damage to the realization of an independent and efficient judiciary in Ukraine,” Buquicchio said.

Buquicchio then appealed directly to Ukrainian judges, expressing his belief that they “understand that this reform is necessary not only for the reputation and authority of the Ukrainian judiciary but for Ukraine as a whole and for all Ukrainian citizens.”

The Ethics Council, created by a July law aimed at judicial reform, would have the power to hire and fire members of the High Council of Justice (HJC), the body responsible for appointing, firing, and punishing judges. The law represents an effort to clean up the HJC, which has faced numerous allegations of involvement in corrupt schemes.

The Council of Judges, Ukraine’s primary professional association of judges, has repeatedly neglected to delegate members to the Ethics Council, missing its September 13 deadline—which the council has now pushed back to October 21—after 16 of the 26 council members refused to vote for any candidates.

“When all the deadlines have been missed, the Council of Judges will wait for the candidacy for the whole October, and then it will again be able to fail the vote. Such actions are nothing more than a simple wasting of time, aimed solely at preventing the cleaning of the HCJ of dishonest members,” said Stepan Berko, advocacy manager of the Democracy Justice Reforms foundation.

Bohdan Monych, speaking for the Council of Judges, stated that the July reform law should be revised, as Ukrainian judges would have inadequate voting power on the Ethics Council. As per the law, the council must include three Ukrainian judges and three international experts. The law also dictates that the international experts decide a split vote rather than the Ukrainian judges.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who promoted judicial reform during his presidential campaign, organized a meeting on September 16 with the Chairman of the Council of Judges, the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Parliament representatives, and G7 ambassadors to discuss the lack of Ethics Council nominations.

According to a statement on Zelensky’s website, the “president will prevent judicial reform from derailing.” The statement also cited the Council of Judges’ missed deadline as a “halt of its [judicial reform’s] most important part—cleaning up the judicial system.”

“I will not allow judges, who hamper the reform and the cleanup of the judicial system, to deprive the Ukrainians of the right to justice,” said the president.

The UK Presidency of the G7 Ambassadors’ Support Group in Kyiv tweeted after the meeting that ambassadors emphasized “international support” for HCJ reform via the “provision of high-quality international experts for the HCJ Ethics Council.”

“Ambassadors called upon the Council of Judges and all [Ukrainian] partners to ensure the swift nomination of [Ukrainian] experts to join the HCJ Ethics Council,” concluded the group.