Ukraine’s judicial reform is stuck in limbo.
The Council of Judges, Ukraine’s main professional judges’ association, continues to block this reform, despite President Volodymyr Zelensky’s September promises to prevent sabotage.
This is bad news for Ukraine. Corruption in the courtroom is one of the country’s biggest problems, according to a broad international consensus. Ukraine’s international partners, including the G7 ambassadors, have lambasted the obstruction.
An important law creating a judicial reform map passed in July. It says that the country must create an Ethics Council to oversee the integrity of the judiciary’s main governing body, the discredited High Council of Justice.
The Ethics Council would hire and fire High Council of Justice members. It must contain three Ukrainian judges and three international experts. If a vote is split 3-to-3, international experts’ opinion must prevail.
International organizations have already nominated their experts for the Ethics Council but the Council of Judges failed to delegate its members in spite of Zelensky’s vow to ensure reform. So far, the president has done little to resolve this stalemate.
If Zelensky really wants to unblock the reform, he must submit amendments stipulating that the Ethics Council must start functioning without the representatives of the Council of Judges if they are not elected by a certain deadline, Vitaly Tytych, ex-head of judicial watchdog Public Integrity Council, told the Kyiv Post.
Zelensky’s spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov told the Kyiv Post that Zelensky would wait for the Council of Judges to delegate its representatives.
The Council of Judges has denied the accusations of sabotage.
Council of judges
The professional judges’ association failed to submit three candidates for the Ethics Council on the day of the deadline to do so, Sept. 13.
Since then, the Council of Judges has dragged its feet, leaving the Ethics Council’s fate uncertain.
On Sept. 21, the Council of Judges set itself a new Oct. 21 deadline to choose new candidates.
But the association also set numerous meticulous requirements for potential nominees. Candidates must have 15 years of experience, use a specific font in their application and must pass an interview.
The Council of Judges also called on parliament and the Supreme Court to revise the judicial reform law. The Supreme Court may file a motion with the Constitutional Court to recognize the law as unconstitutional.
Bohdan Monych, head of the Council of Judges, even said that he doubted whether the Council of Judges would be able to delegate members to the Ethics Council.
Mykhailo Zhernakov, head of legal think tank DEJURE, interpreted this as outrageous sabotage. “They said ‘fuck you’ to the law, the president, G7 and the whole country,” he added on Facebook.
Explaining the Council of Judges’ rationale, Monych said on Sept. 13 that he believed the reform legislation should be revised because Ukrainian judges would not have sufficient voting powers. He denied accusations of sabotage.
Reactions
G7 ambassadors released a critical statement on Sept. 23.
“G7 ambassadors continue to follow closely the process of judicial reform with concern,” they said. “They note with disappointment the Council of Judges’ timetable for selecting candidates for the Ethics Council after international partners nominated theirs.”
“The proposed timetable does not reflect the importance and urgency of this reform. Ambassadors continue to call on the Council of Judges and all partners to ensure the swift nomination of experts to the Ethics Council.”
Zelensky issued his own condemnation.
“I will not allow sabotage of Ukraine’s main reform, which I promised to the Ukrainians and initiated,” he said on Sept. 13. “Each unlawful action aimed at blocking judicial reform will be met with an immediate assessment and response. I will not allow judges who thwart reform and the cleansing of the judiciary to deprive the Ukrainians of the right to justice.”
On Sept. 16, top officials of Zelensky’s office, top judicial officials and G7 ambassadors met in an effort to find a way out of the impasse. However, no practical results have followed.
High Council of Justice
The tainted High Council of Justice is the final authority for appointing, firing and punishing judges.
The council has been involved in numerous corruption scandals and is known for appointing judges linked to illegal schemes.
In 2020, the council unanimously refused to suspend notorious judge Pavlo Vovk, who is involved in Ukraine’s most high-profile judicial corruption case.
In wiretapped conversations released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Vovk mentioned the involvement of Andrii Ovsiienko, head of the High Council of Justice, along with other council members in his alleged corruption schemes. Council members did not respond to requests for comment.
Pak verdict
Meanwhile, the High Anti-Corruption Court on Sept. 21 sentenced Mykhailo Pak, an ex-judge at Zakarpattia Oblast’s Mukacheve City Court, to seven years in jail for taking a Hr 2,000 ($75) bribe for a court ruling in 2017.
Despite his being caught red-handed, the High Council of Justice refused to suspend him from office, and Pak is still collecting his $2,500 monthly salary.
While the Pak verdict was praised by anti-corruption activists, the High Anti-Corruption Court has so far punished small fry for relatively petty crimes. As Vovk’s example shows, large-scale judicial corruption remains unpunished.
