Experts: Mutual responsibility in the judicial system does not allow to bring judges of the Supreme Court to justice

The mutual responsibility in the judicial system makes it impossible to discipline Supreme Court judges. In addition, the government is interested in judges who will make decisions it needs. Such opinions were voiced by the experts interviewed by UNN.

As reported by the HCJ in response to a request by UNN, no Supreme Court judge was brought to disciplinary responsibility in 2023 after the restoration of the authorized composition of the High Council of Justice.

"There is a general explanation for this situation - the mutual responsibility of judges throughout the judicial system. They jointly protect themselves both personally and as a corporation," noted political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.

At the same time , security expert Serhiy Shabovta believes that the absence of cases of disciplinary action against Supreme Court judges by the High Council of Justice indicates that the government is interested in judges who will make the right decisions.

"This shows the absolute formality of the work of such a body (HCJ - ed.). The society wants it, and the government, which is trying to cover up all its corruption by any means, is absolutely formally multiplying these bodies, and the people who are elected to them have no position and ability to influence the situation in advance. All this is absolutely tied into one knot," he said.

According to him, the government needs judges who will make the decisions it needs, and therefore, it is not worth hoping that the body that is supposed to fight against dishonest judges will be efficient.

"Without a fundamental change of power in the state, without profound changes, nothing will change in any body. We see this football match taking place in every law enforcement agency... There were reforms, we were convinced that all this would have an impact, but in fact we only see settling scores with some monopolists. The rule of law has not dominated in Ukraine for many decades. Therefore, the case you mentioned only speaks of imitation of work," Shabovta added.

Recall

Earlier, Volodymyr Vatras, chairman of the subcommittee on the organization and activities of the Bar and legal aid bodies of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, said in a commentary to UNN that the Supreme Court should be cleared of judges who have compromised themselves. However, the reform needs to be approached in a balanced manner, and the relevant parliamentary committee is working on it.

Kateryna Butko, head of the public council at the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), also believes that the Supreme Court needs to be reformed and cleared of dishonest judges, so that cases such as that of ex-FSB agent MP accused of a series of contract killings and high treason, Oleksandr Shepelev, will be considered transparently and efficiently. 

Lawyer, executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Oleksandr Pavlichenko told UNN that the High Council of Justice is tasked with forming an independent judicial system in Ukraine without political influence.