SC Plenum Adopted Resolution on Measures to Restore Trust in Supreme Court Judges

The Decree of the President of Ukraine dated June 30, 2023 implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated June 23, 2023 "On Accelerating Judicial Reform and Overcoming Manifestations of Corruption in the Justice System".

The Supreme Court, taking into account the specified decision of the NSDC and the President, determined its orientation under the present conditions, and, understanding the need for taking decisive actions to eradicate corruption from all branches and levels of the state power, supported the adoption of urgent measures that will contribute to the restoration of the level of trust in the justice system. At the same time, relevant initiatives must be implemented under conditions of observance of judges’ independence principle.

"This should be the basis. After all, we need to think about the judicial system in general, about the protection of millions of citizens who during martial law go to court for protection. We must adhere to high standards of justice administration, one of which is judges’ independence," the President of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko said at the session of the Supreme Court Plenum on August 4, 2023.

The President of the Supreme Court announced the proposals of judges of the Supreme Court regarding the agenda of the SC Plenum, where they expressed support for the need to strengthen public trust in the judiciary and institutions of justice, as well as strengthening the authority of judges in the state, and at the same time emphasized the obligation to observe generally recognized international and constitutional standards of the status of judges, their independence and, in general, the independence of the judicial branch of power.

In addition, these proposals emphasized that the current legislation comprehensively and with sufficient completeness defines duties for judges aimed at ensuring public trust and maximum transparency of the judicial power.

Besides, the toolkit available for the bodies and organizations that carry out relevant functions for checking the activities of judges, in particular the NACP, the HQCJ of Ukraine, the HCJ, the PIC, is more than sufficient for conducting such inspections and evaluating the judicial corps without introducing a separate extraordinary procedure, which provides introduction of court operation monitoring and psychophysiological survey of judges, etc.

Heaving heard and discussed the speech of the Supreme Court President, the SC Plenum adopted a resolution on recommending judges of the Supreme Court, who had not yet submitted the relevant declarations of persons authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government, to do so within 2 months before the legislative renewal of the declaration.