The High Qualification Commission of Judges is forming the ranking of candidates for the positions of the new Supreme Court judges. In the nearest days, the Commission will submit to the High Council of Justice its recommendations for the appointment of the Supreme Court judges.

The High Qualification Commission of Judges has overruled 56% of the Public Integrity Council’s negative opinions, while the circumstances laid out in many of these opinions have not been fully examined and taken into consideration. There is a high risk that the HQCJ will recommend to appoint the candidates whose integrity track record raises reasonable doubts and whose appointment will negatively affect the level of public trust in the judiciary. Thus, the Supreme Court competition along with the judicial reform in general may be discredited.

The High Council of Justice plays a crucial role in the selection of prospective Supreme Court judges. It is the High Council of Justice that has the right to decline a motion of appointment of a judge, should there be any well-grounded doubt concerning the candidate’s integrity or any other circumstances that may negatively affect public trust in the judiciary.

Taking into account that, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, a judge should meet high integrity standards, the High Council of Justice has not only the right, but also a duty to thoroughly scrutinize the circumstances that prove the opposite regarding a particular candidate and to terminate his or her participation.

Experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms emphasize that it is inadmissible to appoint for the Supreme Court judges positions the candidates whose judicial rulings violated human rights, as proven by the European Court of Human Rights; whose mismatch between a declared income and actual expenses and property raise substantial suspicion; who participated in banning peaceful assemblies and public protests; who submitted false information in their integrity declarations. The above-listed circumstances are incompatible with the requirements of integrity, professionalism and ethics of a judge of the new Supreme Court of Ukraine.

It is also extremely important to ensure maximum publicity in considering applications for the appointment of judges by the High Council of Justice. Public Integrity Council has also expressed willingness to participate in the assessment of candidates.

Moreover, among the candidates for Supreme Court judges there are three members of the High Council of Justice: Alla Lesko, Alla Oliynyk and Yaroslav Romaniuk. In this capacity, they will potentially decide not only on their own candidacies and candidacies of their colleagues but also on the ones of their competitors. In this context, it is crucial to take all the available measures to prevent the conflict of interest and maintain trust to the Supreme Court competition as a whole.

In view of this, experts of Reanimation Package of Reforms call on the High Council of Justice to take the following actions:

1. Ensure online broadcasting and personal participation of the Public Integrity Council representatives in the meetings of the High Council of Justice, dedicated to consideration of recommendations for the appointment of judges;
2. Approve the procedure enabling members of the Public Integrity Council to make statements at the meetings of the High Council of Justice;
3. Closely review and take into account any and all circumstances underlying the opinions of the Public Integrity Council regarding candidates’ non-compliance with the criteria of integrity and professional ethics, as well as other circumstances that may have a negative impact on the public trust to the judiciary, and decline motions for the appointment  as judges those candidates whose integrity and professional ethics raise reasonable doubts.

Experts of Reanimation Package of Reforms also call on the members of the High Council of Justice who are among the candidates for the Supreme Court positions to recuse themselves from deciding on their own candidacies as well as on other candidates.