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The Public Integrity Council calls on the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine to publish the scores based on the results of interviews with the candidates and to take personal responsibility for the results of the competition

  • 30.05.17

On May 26, last interviews with the candidates for the positions of judges of the new Supreme Court were held. The Public Integrity Council provided its conclusions concerning 140 out of 381 candidates on their non-compliance with the criteria of integrity and professional ethics. On June 6, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine will gather for the plenary session, where it will vote to dismiss the PIC’s opinions.

The interviews with candidates constitute the culmination of the formation of a new Supreme Court. Despite the involvement of the Public Integrity Council and online broadcasting, the interviews manifested the unequal treatment and bias of the HQCJ towards some candidates. The Public Integrity Council recorded numerous cases when instead of interviewing the candidate, the HQCJ was posing questions only to the PIC’s representatives.

Currently, 354 candidates are competing for the positions within the Supreme Court. However, despite the fact that they have passed all the stages of qualification assessment, we still do not know their scores for the interview. If the scores of the candidates concerning whom the Public Integrity Council provided no opinion are not published prior to the plenary sessions, there is a high risk that these scores will be adjusted depending on the plenary sessions results.

That is why the Public Integrity Council urges the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine:

  1. To terminate participation in the competition of the candidates who do not meet thecriteria of integrity and professional ethics;
  2. Before the plenarysessions, it is necessary to make public the scores based on the results of the interviews with the candidates regarding whom the Public Integrity Council provided no opinion;
  3. To conductroll-call voting on dismissal of the PIC’s opinions and immediately publish the reports of this 

The Public Integrity Council emphasizes that the competition can be credible only if transparency of the process is ensured on all of its stages. Every member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges must take personal responsibility for key decisions that will determine the fate of Ukrainian justice for the next few decades.