The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should urgently adopt the amendments proposed by the President to the law “On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges” in order to launch the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) and prevent the shutdown of the country’s judicial system, said head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Valentyna Danishevska.
In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Danishevska said that the Supreme Court supports the conclusion of the High Council of Justice on this bill.
“The bill submitted by the President is actually aimed at implementing the decisions of the Constitutional Court regarding the existence of the HQCJ and some powers of the High Council of Justice. Also, the draft law, to a certain extent, concerns the activities of the Supreme Court and decides the fate of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, who lost their powers in December 2017,” Danishevska said.
“The urgency of this bill is of particular importance because, since last fall, the judicial system ‘lost’ one of the key bodies – the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine,” the head of the court noted, explaining that without the work of the HQCJ, judges cannot be appointed and transferred to other posts.
According to the head of the court, the creation of the HQCJ and the transfer of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the Supreme Court are priority tasks, while other issues of judicial reform can be discussed and adopted by the parliament separately.
Commenting on the norm of the draft law on the transfer of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the Supreme Court, Danishevska stressed that in this situation “the worst thing is not to solve this problem at all.”
According to her, there are nine judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. “I think that there will be no problems after the adoption of the Law: if they want to consider cases, they will be able to fully administer justice in the Supreme Court. There are no fears or barriers on our part about this.”
Speaking about the possibility of passing the bill in the near future, Danishevska said: “I have no such confidence. But I would like at least the key issues to be resolved, because without the resumption of the HQCJ activities, the judicial system will simply stop.”
