President of the Supreme Court holds working meeting with representatives of the International Development Law Organization in Ukraine (IDLO)

Stanislav Kravchenko, President of the Supreme Court, stressed that the support of the International Development Law Organization in Ukraine is very valuable for the Supreme Court and expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation.

The Chief Justice noted that the Supreme Court pays considerable attention to the training of judges in the specifics of the consideration of criminal cases related to war crimes, as such training contributes to the formation of established judicial practice in this category of cases.

Stanislav Kravchenko also noted that the number of judges continues to decline rapidly. The Supreme Court presently has almost 25 % of its judges' positions vacant out of the total number. The most difficult situation is in the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court - currently 31 out of 42 judges are working in the Court and the workload is increasing.

The participants of the meeting also discussed issues related in particular to the establishment of the High Administrative Court as the court of first instance for administrative cases involving public authorities, the staffing of the judicial system, the restoration of the disciplinary function of the High Council of Justice and the establishment of the Service of Disciplinary Inspectors of the HCJ.

Levan Duchidze, Director of the International Development Law Organization in Ukraine, emphasised that since the resumption of its work, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine should prioritise identifying the sequence of tasks in the context of the necessity to fill vacant positions in the judiciary. Levan Duchidze also informed that IDLO is working with the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Legal Policy in the process of drafting legislation to improve the procedures for selecting judges.

Special attention was paid to the discussion of legislative initiatives related to judicial reform in Ukraine and the positions of international partners on this issue. The Director of IDLO emphasised that the organisation is guided by three main principles when formulating conclusions and recommendations. Firstly, reforms must be conducted solely in compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine. Secondly, recommendations from the Venice Commission should be taken into consideration. Lastly, the work of the Supreme Court must not be hindered in any manner.

In conclusion, the Director of IDLO assured that the International Development Law Organization in Ukraine will continue to provide the Supreme Court with the necessary technical assistance within its mandate.

Other participants in the meeting included Serhii Drozdach, Head of IDLO's legal team in Ukraine, Viktor Kylymar, IDLO's anti-corruption expert in Ukraine, Rasim Babanly, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Court, and Lina Hubar, Head of the Division for International Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court.