The Verkhovna Rada has passed a bill that is part of Ukraine's obligations to strengthen the rule of law and purge the judiciary of dishonest elements. The document introduces new rules for vetting judges, UNN reports, citing the parliamentary session.
Details
Draft Law No. 13165-2 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges' and certain laws of Ukraine regarding the improvement of declarations of integrity of judges and family ties of a judge" was supported in the second reading and as a whole by 242 people's deputies.
According to the document, a judge is obliged to submit a declaration of integrity and family ties. It should be noted that previously, a judge had to submit two declarations: a declaration of integrity and a declaration of family ties.
In other words, the law aims to combine the two declarations into a single document to be submitted by judges.
The declaration must be submitted annually by May 1 by filling out the document on the official website of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ) in a form determined by the HQCJ.
The declaration of integrity and family ties of a judge consists of a list of statements, the truthfulness of which the judge must declare by confirming or not confirming them, as well as information about persons with whom the judge has family ties
In the document, in addition to their own data (full name, place of work, position), the data of persons with whom the judge has family ties, their place of work or service, and positions must be indicated if such persons are or have been during the last five years preceding the year of filing the declaration:
- employees of the High Council of Justice (members, heads, deputies, secretariat staff);
- employees of the HQCJ;
- a judge, a member of the court staff;
- a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, an employee of the secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
- a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer, an attorney, a notary;
- a member of the Public Integrity Council;
- a member of the Ethics Council, a member of the Expert Council, a member of the Advisory Group of Experts, a member of the Selection Commission for candidates for the position of HQCJ member, a member of the selection commission for the position of head of the disciplinary inspectors service, their deputy, or a disciplinary inspector of the HCJ disciplinary inspectors service;
- an official of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine or its territorial departments;
- the President of Ukraine;
- the Head of the Office of the President or their deputy;
- the Secretary of the NSDC or their deputy;
- a people's deputy, a local council deputy;
- a member of the Cabinet of Ministers;
- the head or deputy head of the NAPC, NABU;
- the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights;
- a member of the Accounting Chamber;
- a member of the Central Election Commission;
- a member of the board or council of the NBU;
- the head of the respective city, village, or settlement council.
Previously, judges also had to indicate in their declaration of family ties members of the Temporary Special Commission for the Vetting of Judges of General Jurisdiction, as well as members of the Public Council of International Experts, which is established in accordance with the law defining the principles of organization and activity of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
In addition to monitoring assets and property, new items are introduced into the declaration to check the civic and professional position of the judge. In particular, each judge will be obliged to officially confirm:
- non-visitation of the territory of the aggressor state and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine;
- non-cooperation with the occupation administrations of the Russian Federation starting from February 20, 2014;
- the use of the Ukrainian language as the sole state language during the administration of justice and court hearings;
- unconditional compliance with the Code of Judicial Ethics.
The law defines that persons with whom a judge has family ties include:
- persons who live together, are connected by a common household, and have mutual rights and obligations with the judge, including persons who live together but are not married to the judge;
- husband, wife, as well as relatives of each spouse or relatives of persons who live together but are not married to the judge (father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, great-grandson, great-granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, first cousin, adopter, adopted).
- The HQCJ will conduct a verification of declarations if they may indicate unreliable information or statements, non-submission, or late submission of the document.
At the same time, the HQCJ will not consider information about judges received from anonymous sources or sources whose origin cannot be established.
Verification of the declaration for the unreliability of the information or statements specified in it, as well as for its late submission, may be initiated no later than three years from the date of submission.
If the HQCJ has not been able to make any decision regarding the declaration within 6 months, the information regarding its unreliability is considered unconfirmed.
After considering the results of the declaration verification, the HQCJ makes one of the following decisions:
- on the confirmation of information about the unreliability (including incompleteness) of information or statements specified in the declaration;
- on the confirmation of information about non-submission or late submission of the declaration;
- on the non-confirmation of information about the unreliability (including incompleteness) of information or statements specified in the declaration;
- on the non-confirmation of information about non-submission or late submission of the declaration.
The bill stipulates that such a declaration must be submitted not only by judges but also by candidates for the position of judge.
As reported by the Verkhovna Rada, the document is aimed at fulfilling Ukraine's obligations under the Ukraine Plan, which is part of the European Union's Ukraine Facility financial support mechanism.
It provides for the reform of the judicial system, in particular, strengthening the accountability and integrity of judges, which includes improving integrity declarations and their verification procedures. In addition, the European Commission, in its report within the 2024 EU Enlargement Package, noted that to strengthen judicial accountability and public trust, Ukraine must adopt legislation to review the system of declaring the integrity of judges
The Verkhovna Rada also indicated that the adopted law instructs the Cabinet of Ministers to submit to parliament a draft law on introducing temporary features for the procedure of individual verification of the integrity declaration of a judge of the Supreme Court and high specialized courts with the participation of independent experts.
As pointed out by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the adoption of the bill unlocks more than 300 million euros from the EU for Ukraine.
Reminder
Ukraine risks losing part of the European Union's financial assistance for the first time due to the untimely implementation of reforms provided for by the Ukraine Facility program.