We, civil society organizations which formed the first civil society body in the history of Ukraine which participates in assessment of judges and candidates for the positions of judges hereby express our support and trust in the Public Integrity Council (hereinafter PIC).
The creation of the PIC was the reaction to the inability of the judicial branch of power to cleanse itself, and the public was meant to become an additional filter for the system. PIC’s first trial was the competition to the Supreme Court. During its course, the 20 PIC members voluntarily analyzed a huge amount of information about the candidates despite difficulties and obstacles and approved 134 conclusions on the lack of integrity and professional ethics of the candidates which thus makes them not qualified for the positions of Supreme Court judges.Thanks to the Council’s effort, 51 candidates with negative conclusions were disqualified from the competition and 8 more decided to give up their participation voluntarily.
However, despite the public’s effort, the High Qualification Commission of Judges (hereinafter HQCJ) included 30 candidates “vetoed” by the PIC into the short list and the Supreme Council of Justice recommended 25 of them to the President for further appointment. However, neither the HQCJ, nor the Supreme Council of Justice (hereinafter SCJ) published a motivated decision which would explain their failure to take into account PIC’s conclusions.
We are not the only ones concerned with this situation. The European Union asked to explain how compromised judges ended up being shortlisted, however, in Ukraine, the majority of accusations go from the authorities to the PIC. PIC members are being accused of incompetence, lack of conclusive evidence and abuse of authority. Such attacks are clearly meant to justify the actions of HQCJ and SCJ, which recommended negatively assessed candidates for appointment.
We are concerned with ungrounded attacks on PIC members and a campain meant to discredit the agency as a whole. We would like to remind that PIC was formed as prescribed by the Law of Ukraine “On Judiciary and the Status of Judges” in a transparent way by civil society organizations previously selected by the HQCJ. The 9 organization selected by the Commission include authoritative and powerful organizations with many years of experience and impeccable reputation both in Ukraine and abroad. We have all appointed competent experts to the PIC, including lawyers, journalists and scholars. They are people whom we trust and whose professionalism and integrity leave no room for doubt.
Ukraine already has experience of involvement of active and professional public in reforms. Every time, the system resists, but it results in positive changes. We call on the bodies of the judiciary to cooperate with the civil society and expect them to engage in constructive dialogue and continue to move towards openness and transparency.
Center for Democracy and Rule of Law
Transparency International Ukraine
Center of Policy and Legal Reform
VHO «Avtomaidan»
Center UA CSO
Civic Platform Nova Kraina
Public Lustration Committee CSO
Yevropeiskyi Vymir CSO
