On March 13, the interim board of the HQCJ reviewed the dossiers and interviewed HACC competition participants Olena Chernova and Tetiana Lytvynko. According to the Commission, both candidates demonstrated their integrity and professionalism during the interviews.
Finally, the Commission assigned final grades to the contestants based on their exam and interview performance. Out of a maximum of 800 points, the candidates received:
- Olena Chernova — 760.4 points (365.4 for the exam);
- Tetiana Lytvynko — 752.9 points (357.9 for the exam).
Both candidates received 395 points each based on the dossier review and their interview with the HQCJ. At this stage, the Commission assessed integrity, professional ethics, and personal and social competence. The texts of the decision have not been published yet.
The final step for the HQCJ will be to draft recommendations for appointing the competition winners to their positions.
After that, the High Council of Justice will take over the process. It will review the HQCJ’s recommendations, conduct an additional check on both candidates and then decide whether to submit a recommendation to the President for the appointment of Olena Chernova and Tetiana Lytvynko as HACC judges or to reject their candidacies.
However, it should be noted that the end of this competition will mark the beginning of another, as the first attempt did not fill all 25 vacant positions.
The Commission announced a competition for the HACC Appeals Chamber at the end of January after no candidate successfully passed the qualification exam. We expect the competition for the first instance of the HACC to be announced after the HQCJ provides its recommendations for the winners, Olena Chernova and Tetiana Lytvynko.
