Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said he hopes that the High Council of Justice (HCJ) will be formed in May.

"I hope it will be so in May," Petrenko said to journalists in Kyiv when answering a question about the progress made in forming the HCJ.

"I'm a member of the HCJ by virtue of my position and I'm ready to come to a sitting at any time of day or night and exercise my functions as a member of the HCJ," he said.

Petrenko said that, pursuant to the law on fair trial which was adopted in February 2015, every agency which will delegate representatives to the HCJ must do so during April, according to the Constitution.

He said that meetings in the legal community on delegating representatives to the HCJ are scheduled to be held April.

"We also expect the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the President to introduce their candidates and then the council will start working," Petrenko added.