Draft law on High Council of Public Justice to immobilize judicial system – experts

The experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR) initiative warn about the government efforts to immobilize the judicial system.

During the expert discussion of the draft law on the High Council of Public Justice, RPR representative Mykhailo Zhernakov slammed the document’s provision, which provides for mandatory 10 years of experience as a judge for membership in the High Council of Public Justice.

“We want to update the Supreme Court of Ukraine, then why do we demand ten years? This provision will prevent the new judges, who come to the court system, from becoming the members of the High Council of Public Justice. This is contrary to the logic of reform and can be a serious obstacle to renewal of the judiciary,” Hromadske Radio quotes Mykhailo Zhernakov as saying.

“The Council members will be judges, not pundits or lawyers. If we call them judges, who will undergo the appropriate procedures, who will be working a certain number of years at this position in 2019, in our opinion, it would be logical to allow judges of courts of different instances to apply for membership in the High Council of Public Justice,” he added.

He also recalled that a broad representation of judges was the recommendation of the Venice Commission.

“The Venice Commission emphasized that setting high requirements for judicial experience would not ensure broad representation of judges in this body,” Mykhailo Zhernakov said.

Andriy Kozlov, the leading legal counsel at the Democracy Reporting International, believes that the transitional provisions should provide for the rotation of part of members of the High Council of Public Justice every two years. It would ensure the renovation, he said.

As a reminder, the public discussion of the draft law on the High Council of Public Justice is ongoing.

The High Council of Public Justice will settle all issues related to career of judges.