Competition for the Anti-Corruption Court: Time for the HQCJ to Publish Candidates’ Written Assignments

A month ago, as part of the competition for positions at the High Anti-Corruption Court, candidates completed practical written assignments—one of the key and, at the same time, most sensitive stages of the qualification exam. According to the High Qualification Commission of Judges’ preliminary timeline, the results of this stage are expected to be published in the near future.

However, for the public, it is important not only to see the scores awarded to candidates, but also to review the practical assignments themselves.

The previous competition for the HACC demonstrated that this stage proved to be one of the most problematic for candidates. At that time, only seven candidates passed the threshold for the first-instance court, while not a single candidate cleared it for the HACC Appeals Chamber. This stage remained among the least transparent, as the written works and criterion-based assessments were never made public.

Such opacity has already drawn criticism from civil society and some candidates. This is an issue that needs to be addressed—especially now, when a significant number of candidates may once again be eliminated precisely at the practical assignment stage. This concern is further reinforced by the fact that the HQCJ assessed the papers independently, without involving external experts.

Enhancing transparency does not require changes to the competition’s regulatory framework or waiting for new legislative initiatives. The Commission can take a simple yet effective step today by asking candidates whether they consent to the publication of their practical assignments.

Where such consent is granted, the HQCJ could publish the relevant papers together with their assessments. This would:

• increase trust in the competition’s results,
• allow the professional community to see the actual quality of the candidates’ work,
• protect the HQCJ itself from accusations of opacity,
• reduce the risk of legal challenges based on claims of ‘changing the rules of the game’.

In competitions for the HACC, the stakes are traditionally high—both for candidates and for the state as a whole. For this reason, transparency standards should not be minimal, but exemplary. The first step is to make the most closed stage of the competition as transparent as possible, already now. Accordingly, the HQCJ should publish the written assignments of those HACC candidates who give their consent.