Supreme Court Addressed to the President and the Verkhovna Rada with the Proposal to Get Opinion of the Venice Commission as for the Draft Law No. 1008 and to Consult with the Judicial Branch of Power

On Monday, 30 September, the Supreme Court addressed to the President of Ukraine and the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with the proposal to get expert opinion as for the draft Law of Ukraine "On Amending Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Operation of Judicial Governance Bodies" (Registration No. 1008) before voting for the draft Law in the second reading.

Particularly, in this addressing it is noted that, hoping for the sincerity of intentions regarding the improvement of justice in Ukraine the Supreme Court proposed to postpone the consideration [of the draft Law No. 1008] till receiving the relevant opinion of the Venice Commission and consulting with the judicial branch of power.

The Supreme Court remarks that such consultations among the branches of power, presently, have not taken place.

International partners of Ukraine also put emphasis on the necessity to hold the consultations. Thus, the Acting Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Annika Weidemann and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine Roman Waschuk called for a thorough consultation process as for the draft Law No. 1008 with the involvement of relevant legal experts, civil society and international community.

On 25 September 2019, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe while its 1355^th (Human Rights) meeting at Deputy level underlined that the proposed legislative initiatives should be compliant with the Convention [for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms] and the case law of the Court [European Court of Human Rights], with the principles of the independence of the judiciary and with the relevant Council of Europe recommendations, as well as called upon Ukrainian authorities to take full advantage of the expertise of the Council of Europe to this end.