Representatives of the judiciary take part in bilateral screening meeting between Ukraine and the European Commission in the framework of EU accession negotiations

Today, 17 September 2024, the Ukrainian delegation took part in the second EU-Ukraine bilateral screening meeting on the conformity of Ukrainian legislation with EU law.

The delegation included Myroslava Bilak, Judge of the Administrative Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, and Rasim Babanly, First Deputy Chief of Staff - Head of the Department for Analytical and Legal Work.

The meeting, taking place in Brussels (Belgium), is dedicated to the negotiation of Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights", which covers EU law and policies in the areas of independent and effective judiciary, prevention of and fight against corruption as a threat to the stability of democratic institutions and the rule of law, as well as fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Chapters 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" and 24 "Justice, Security and Freedom" are the most important in the negotiation process, as no other chapter will be closed until the benchmarks in these two chapters have been met.

The presentations by the representatives of the Supreme Court focused on the effectiveness of the judicial process, namely the challenges faced by the judiciary in the context of the war and the measures taken to overcome them, the prospects and plans for changing the court network and improving e-justice.

Representatives of the Supreme Court informed the European Commission, inter alia, about the prospects of establishing a higher court to hear disputes with the highest public authorities.

In her speech, Myroslava Bilak reported on the measures taken by the Supreme Court to ensure the unity of its jurisprudence, mentioning such mechanisms as the consideration of a case by a chamber, the joint chamber of the cassation court and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

The judge also drew attention to the Supreme Court's activities in the preparation and publication of periodic and thematic digests, the filling of the Supreme Court's Legal Position Database and informed about the forthcoming plans to launch a new information resource that will contribute to ensuring the unity of jurisprudence - the Supreme Lab.

The delegates paid particular attention to possible ways of improving procedural legislation, cassation filters and the institution of exemplary cases.

The members of the Ukrainian delegation answered questions from the European Commission representatives on the selection of judges, the assessment of judges' qualifications, mechanisms for ensuring the unity of jurisprudence, the workload of courts and other issues related to the functioning of the judiciary in times of war.

The Ukrainian delegation also included representatives of the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office.