The meeting with the delegation of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was held at the HCJ. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues on the current state of administering justice in Ukraine and outlined possible ways of cooperation.
The Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk expressed gratitude to the representatives of the OSCE ODIHR for the initiation of the meeting and readiness to assist in continuing to implement judicial reform.
The HCJ Chairman informed guests about one of the key challenges that arisen in front of the judiciary, which is the formation of a highly professional and honest personnel reserve of judges.
“Having more than 2600 vacant judicial positions is too much for any judicial system. This overloads current judges. If a judge considers over three thousand cases per year, then the provision of the citizens access to justice, efficiency and quality of justice with the compliance with the rule of law principle is problematic”, – explained Hryhorii Usyk.
Mr. Usyk said that after the restoration of powers in 2023 the High Council of Justice selected a plenipotentiary composition of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, a personnel institution on judges selection. The HCJ also restored a disciplinary function.
Currently there is an ongoing competition on the formation of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors, which is planned to finish in September. Although the problem of material and technical provision of the activity of the Service remains unsolved, particularly the absence of the premises for its placement.
Hryhorii Usyk drew attention to the experience of the OSCE ODIHR on issues connected to manifestations of intolerance and discrimination and hate crimes, in particular by using mediation procedure. He noted that the Ukrainian society inquires/requests for justice, while the judiciary is called upon to solve exactly sensitive disputes, including the protection of the rights of people with disabilities, victims of war, internally displaced persons, etc. That is why state bodies employees as well as judges and court staff need to have skills to communicate with such a category of citizens.
HCJ member Serhii Burlakov noted that there is a need to get acquainted Ukrainian judges of the first and appellate instances and their assistants with the international experience on modern ways of disputes resolving, connected to domestic violence, protecting the rights of veterans and combatants returning to civilian life and integrating into society. The number of disputes of such categories increases over time.
Serhii Burlakov also drew attention to the formation of a misconception among the society regarding mistrust of the court, whereas the number of appeals to the courts reached the pre-war level, which indicates the trust in the judiciary.
HCJ member Vitalii Salikhov drew attention to the absence of a legal mechanism to ensure the continuous activity of the HCJ. He considers it unacceptable to repeat the situation when the constitutional body of judicial governance can lose its powers, as it was from February 2022 till January 2023.
“Currently, the HCJ operates in the plenipotentiary although not in the full composition. However, some legal grounds should be provided that could give the HCJ the possibility to continuously work and make important decisions on transferring and secondment of judges and appointing them to the positions”, – believes Vitalii Salikhov.
HCJ member also noted that judges and judicial governance bodies are interested in getting acquainted with the practice of courts’ consideration of criminal cases remotely, when the judge, secretary of the court hearing, prosecutors, advocates and other participants in a court hearing take part in the hearing outside the court premises for safety reasons, which is especially important for courts located in areas close to the line of hostilities.
Apart from that, Vitalii Salikhov focused on the problem of the inability to fill vacant positions of judges for courts of the first and appellate instances on the territories where hostilities are taking place and which will be de-occupied, He considers it reasonable to form such a reserve of assistants of judges who have 5-6 years’ experience, providing them with appropriate training.
HCJ member Tetiana Bondarenko expressed interest in getting acquainted with the legal norms of European countries which regulate grounds for bringing judges to disciplinary liability.
Head of ODIHR Democratization Department Konstantine Vardzelashvili on behalf of the whole delegation expressed admiration for the commitment of representatives of the Ukrainian judiciary to what they do, administering justice in difficult conditions in courts located in areas close to the line of hostilities. He assured in readiness to provide support and assistance to democratic institutions of Ukraine on issues in which ODIHR is competent.
He also informed about the readiness of ODIHR experts to conduct a legal analysis of Ukrainian legislation norms, assist in holding thematic trainings and roundtables for judges, their assistants and other stakeholders, share the experience of European countries on ensuring the continuous functioning of judicial institutions, and also best practices on the protection of tolerance and non-discrimination principals, etc.
The meeting that took place on July 3, 2024, was attended by the Chairman of the HCJ Hryhorii Usyk, the Deputy Chairman of the HCJ Dmytro Lukianov, HCJ members Tetiana Bondarenko, Oksana Kvasha, Olena Kovbii, Serhii Burlakov, Oleh Kandziuba, Oleksii Melnyk, Mykola Moroz, Vitalii Salikhov.
From the OSCE ODIHR delegation – Head of Democratization Department Konstantine Vardzelashvili, Chief of the Rule of Law Unit Ghenadie Barba, employee of this Unit Christopher Russel, interpreter Evgenya Stelmuhova.