The provisions of the Law of Ukraine On Rights to Fair Trial, with regard to reelection of members of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine have come into force. This authority was almost completely suspended, but now all authorities delegated the right to appoint or elect members of the HCJ, except the meeting of judges that has already accomplished reelection, should do it within 60 days, said Deputy Head of the Ukraine’s Presidential Administration and Coordinator of the Judicial Reform Council Olexy Filatov, the  presidential administration press-office reports.

At the press briefing, at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, Deputy Head of the UPD noted: “In so doing, this constitutional body will be renovated, and we can expect that it will start performing its statutory functions, in particular, appointment of judges, taking any disciplinary action against them or discharge, provided that the reasons for such actions are stipulated in the law“.

The majority of other provisions set out in the Law of Ukraine On Rights to Fair Trial come into effect in 30 days after it is published, i.e. on March 28, 2015.

Moreover, Olexy Filatov added that the meeting with representatives of the Venice Commission held this week resulted in reaching agreement on delivering the Commission expert’s opinion on the document in the near future. ‘We are grateful to the Venice Committee for cooperation and understanding of urgent need for prompt implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine”, – said Deputy Head of UPD.

In particular, Olexy Filatov dwelled on the issue surrounding the powers granted to the Parliament and President, in particular, to appoint judges, transfer them to other job positions, etc. Mr.Filatov underscored that the said law narrows the exertion of “powers of political bodies, implying their impact on the judicial system. Both the Parliament and President, when resolving on appointment of judges, judicial career progression, holding answerable them for particular actions, only endorse the decisions passed by the Higher Qualification and Disciplinary Bar Commission  or High Council of Justice”. All procedures are becoming transparent and open to general public, and its members can be present at the meetings of HQDBC and HCU and monitor their activity. The law has also amended the election procedures for both authorities with the view of depoliticization and transparency of judiciary. ‘The President will appoint members of the HCU only on basis of open competition that will be controlled and overseen by the society”, – noticed Olexy Filatov.

Reference: the law of Ukraine On Rights to Fair Trial was approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on February 12, 2015, signed by the President on February 24, and published on February 26. The law is the first step towards embedding the judicial reform, it is aimed to simplify the procedure for providing access for citizens to justice, to implement open competition and recruitment procedures for judges, envisages enhancement of responsibility the judges will bear and introduces anti-corruption mechanisms for lustration of the judiciary.