Representatives of the Supreme Court took part in the meeting of experts of international assistance projects in the field of strengthening the rule of law

Judge of the Supreme Court at the Administrative Cassation Court Andrii Zhuk, Judge of the Supreme Court at the Commercial Cassation Court, Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine Committee on Ethics, Corruption Prevention and Conflict of Interest Resolution Yehor Krasnov and Head of the Division for International Cooperation of the Supreme Court Lina Hubar took part in an online meeting of donors and implementers of rule of law projects/programmes dedicated to promoting judicial ethics in Ukraine.

During the event, Yehor Krasnov spoke about the updates to the Code of Judicial Ethics developed with technical assistance from the USAID Justice for All Program.

The speaker noted that the Code of Judicial Ethics has been updated in accordance with today's realities and the requirements of modern legislation. The purpose of updating the Code is:

• to bring the provisions of the Code closer to the best international comparative practices;
• to align certain provisions of the Code with the requirements of the law;
• to take into account new ethical challenges and dilemmas that arise in the daily work of a judge.

According to the judge, the working group took into account best comparative practices in drafting the Code of Judicial Ethics: The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, the Code of Conduct for US Judges, the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Opinions of the Advisory Council of European Judges, the Model Code of the European Network of Councils of Justice and the Ethical Principles for International Criminal Judges.

Yehor Krasnov said that the updated Code clarifies certain provisions of the Code relating to the conduct of judges in the performance of their professional duties and extrajudicial activities, and brings the terminology of the Code into line with the provisions of current legislation. The Code has been supplemented with provisions aimed at strengthening the independence and authority of the judiciary through a series of ethical requirements for the conduct of judges and clarifying the judge's obligations to ensure impartiality, publicity, openness, neutrality and restrictions on public activities. It also specifies the content of the 'ordinary reasonable person' test and regulates restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence and social media by judges.

In his speech, the Judge of the Supreme Court of the CommCC outlined the main changes affecting the general provisions of the Code, the section on judicial conduct in the administration of justice, and extrajudicial conduct.

He concluded by thanking the representatives of the USAID Justice for All Program for their support and assistance to the working group in updating the Code of Judicial Ethics.

In her turn, Lina Hubar informed about the international cooperation of the Supreme Court and thanked the USAID representatives for their cooperation and support in the participation of the Supreme Court in international events and visits.

The event was organised by the USAID Justice for All Program.