Public Integrity Council gives negative assessment to quarter of winners of contest for new Supreme Court judges
The Public Council of Integrity has issued negative conclusions for a quarter of the winners of the competition for posts in the new Supreme Court of Ukraine; the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges and the Supreme Council of Justice should take this into account when appointing judges, representatives of the Public Council say.
Representative of the Public Council of Integrity Taras Shepel at a press conference on Tuesday in Kyiv welcomed the completion of the contest for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court, noting that about 20% of the winners of the competition are people not from the judiciary. "The judicial reform will be judged in terms of increasing confidence in the Supreme Court," he said.
However, representatives of the council pointed to the specific problems that the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges and the Supreme Council of Justice should address when appointing judges.
Representative of the Public Council of Integrity Roman Maselko said that 30 candidates among the winners have been issued negative opinion by the council, which is, every fourth.
Speaking about the main reasons for negative conclusion for candidates in terms of their integrity, Maselko named the adoption by these judges of politically motivated rulings, indication by the European Court of Human Rights of violations in passing the judgments, the inconsistency between the way of life and incomes of these judges, as well as the doubtful origin of the incomes of these judges.
Representative of the Public Council of Integrity Natalia Sokolenko urged the Supreme Council of Justice to prevent the winners of the contest, who received negative reviews from being appointed to the new Supreme Court, and said the Integrity Council is ready to contribute in every way to the work of the Supreme Council of Justice in this respect. She recalled that the required quorum for the Supreme Court to start its work in the new format is 65 judges, which means the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges can appoint only some of the 120 winners, that is only those who are clear in terms of their honesty assessment.
In addition, Sokolenko urged Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to call a relevant meeting to address this matter.