As all participants in the HACC AC competition failed to pass the interview stage following the practical task, the High Qualification Commission of Judges may soon announce a new selection process for this institution. However, we at Transparency International Ukraine believe that such a decision by the HACC would be premature.
It is worth noting that out of 238 applicants who submitted documents for the HACC judicial competition in March 2024, only seven advanced to the middle stage of the qualification assessment. All of them are competing for positions in the first-instance court of the HACC, with none applying for the HACC AC.
These disappointing figures suggest that certain procedures in the competition may have failed and therefore require thorough review and analysis.
For instance, the threshold score for testing cognitive abilities was excessively high, as it was not lowered by Law No. 4072-IX due to delays in its signing by the President. Also, 84% of participants failed the practical task, and the commission refused to provide us with depersonalized results of the contestants’ work, including their scores, for external evaluation.
These are the most evident pain points of this selection process, but there may be others. For example, the future development of tests on the history of Ukrainian statehood for a new competition or the legislative ban on repeated participation in the selection for the same specialization within the same instance—meaning those who aimed to join the HACC AC last year will no longer be eligible to participate in this year’s competition. Therefore, ignoring these problems and new challenges could result in the same disappointing outcome we are witnessing today.
“Simply announcing a new contest is far from sufficient. For the selection process to succeed, the Commission and all parties involved must address the errors, correct them, and only then proceed with launching new competitions. Furthermore, it is already evident that judges will need to be selected not only for the appellate court but also for the first instance. If a new competition is conducted under the same principles, requirements, and criteria as before, how will it differ from the one that has already failed?” explains Kateryna Ryzhenko, Deputy Executive Director for Legal Affairs at Transparency International Ukraine.
It is important to note that a successful HACC competition is one of the prerequisites for securing financial assistance under the Ukraine Facility Plan. Even with a rushed announcement of the competition for the HACC AC, it cannot be completed before the end of March 2025.
Transparency International Ukraine firmly believes that announcing a new competition for judges in the HACC AC at this time would be a mistake without careful consideration and a comprehensive resolution of both the issues we have identified and those that remain unknown. Otherwise, there is a risk that the new selection process will yield the same results as the previous one.
Simply announcing a new contest is far from sufficient. For the selection process to succeed, the Commission and all parties involved must address the errors, correct them, and only then proceed with launching new competitions. Furthermore, it is already evident that judges will need to be selected not only for the appellate court but also for the first instance.
Kateryna Ryzhenko
