Updated on Aril 25. The Committee on Legal Policy has released a new conclusion, recommending a reduction in the deadline for submitting amendments and proposals to 7 days. This would allow Parliament to support the draft law before the start of the application period for the competition.
Starting June 1, applications open for those seeking a seat in the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court. Yet some potential candidates remain uncertain about their eligibility to compete.
Parliament is expected to support Draft Law No. 13114, which proposes lifting certain restrictions on participation in the competition. It was precisely the prospect of this law’s adoption that led the High Qualification Commission of Judges to postpone the application period.
In particular, the draft law proposes allowing individuals who previously did not appear, declined to participate, or failed the qualification exam to take part in the competition. This is especially relevant for current HACC judges who have already participated in the competition. The draft law also proposes allowing employees of various institutions to participate in the competition, or to reduce the restriction period for their participation from ten years after dismissal to five.
We have already analyzed this draft law, expressed our support for its adoption in the first reading, and provided recommendations for its improvement in the second.
On April 16, the Verkhovna Rada did not support adding this draft law to the session agenda, which means it will be considered much later.
Due to this postponement, there is a risk that if it is supported, the draft law will not come into force before June 1, when the application period for candidates begins. As a result, the HQCJ may once again be forced to postpone the application deadline, or some candidates, through no fault of their own, will miss part of the application window and find themselves at a disadvantage compared to others.
However, it is possible to accelerate the consideration of the draft law in Parliament without compromising the quality of the process. The law allows, in certain cases, for the reduction of the period for submitting amendments and proposals after a draft is adopted as a basis. By default, MPs have 14 days to do so, but Parliament may shorten this period to 7 days. Such a reduction can be recommended by the relevant committee, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy. The Committee has done so repeatedly for more complex and extensive draft laws, such as the draft on judicial career procedure reforms (No. 10140-d) and the formation of the Disciplinary Inspector Service (No. 9483-2).
On April 24 at 11:00, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy will hold a meeting, but this issue is not currently on the agenda. We hope that MPs will be able to address it during the meeting or convene another session to recommend that Parliament reduce the timeframe for submitting amendments.
We have sent a letter to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, requesting that the time limit for submitting amendments and proposals be reduced by half. This would allow the draft law to be processed more quickly and, consequently, be considered sooner at a plenary session.
We have already analyzed this draft law, expressed our support for its adoption in the first reading, and provided recommendations for its improvement in the second.
