On 9 November 2021 the First Composition of the Ethics Council started working. Over a year of its work the Ethics Council consisting of Ukrainian and international experts has shown effective result-driven work, in particular: to assist bodies responsible for appointment (election) of members of the High Council of Justice with forming the HCJ composition, members of which would comply with high criteria of professional ethics and integrity.
Hence, during the period of its work the Ethics Council has already managed to evaluate 4 sitting members of the HCJ within the framework of one-time evaluation and 83 candidates, including 14 candidates under the quota of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 9 candidates under the quota of the Congress of Representatives of Legal Higher Educational Institutions and Academic Institutions, as well as 60 candidates nominated by the Congress of Judges of Ukraine. We’ve held 77 interviews. As a result of that, 27 candidates for the position of the HCJ member have been recognized as compliant with the criteria of professional ethics and integrity and 33 candidates have been recognized as non-compliant. 23 other candidates have submitted applications on withdrawal from the competition.
Currently we are evaluating 14 candidates nominated by the All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors and 14 candidates nominated by the President of Ukraine.
Since establishment of the Ethics Council its activities have received numerous endorsements both in Ukraine and abroad. In particular, recently the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law have positively evaluated our work in their opinion.
It should be separately pointed out that completion of renewal of the High Council of Justice with participation of the Ethics Council is one of the requirements of the European Commission which Ukraine has undertaken the obligation to fulfil in order to preserve its status of the candidate to the EU.
The Ethics Council’s Chair Lev Kyshakevysh said: “Regardless of the war the judiciary reform in Ukraine continues. The Ethics Council, which I have the honor to chair, leads this process. Regardless of daily threats caused by hostilities, we have not stopped working. In response to external challenges we have managed to build the working process in such a way that our work has become even more efficient, effective, as well as of higher quality. Over one year since its establishment the Ethics Council has done a lot of work, and there are even more challenges ahead”.
The Ethics Council’s Deputy Chair Sir Anthony Hooper said: “Reforming of the High Council of Justice is extremely important for renewing trust of the society in the judiciary in general. The Ethics Council has been doing everything possible to implement it at a high level”.
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