Monday11 November 2024
kriminal-tv.in.ua

"There are courts without a single judge." An interview with the head of the Supreme Qualification Commission of Judges.

Ukrainian courts are currently short of nearly 2,000 judges. Additionally, over 1,500 individuals must demonstrate their qualifications to administer justice, meaning they need to pass a competency assessment relevant to their positions.
«Существуют суды без единого судьи». Интервью с председателем Высшей квалификационной комиссии судей.
Глава Высшей квалификационной комиссии судей Андрей Пасечник5

Andrey Pasechnik is a candidate of legal sciences (2012), associate professor (2015), and the author of over 30 scientific works in the field of law. Until 2020, he worked as a lawyer specializing in corporate, civil, and administrative law. From 2020 to 2023, he led the Department of Full Audits at the National Agency for Corruption Prevention. Since June 1, 2023, he has been appointed as a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges.

“We are in an emergency situation in the judiciary”

The dismissal of your predecessor Roman Ignatov came with a somewhat scandalous backdrop due to a story (which turned out to be fake) regarding a Russian passport. Ultimately, he resigned. Was there any political pressure? Or was it rather a matter of reputation?

The information concerning Mr. Ignatov potentially holding a Russian citizen passport, which was covered in the media at the time, was not true. We established a separate working group that included representatives from civil society, and this group found no grounds to confirm such a fact.

This situation was very unpleasant for both the commission and him. He experienced it quite painfully. Perhaps this contributed to his decision to resign. Maybe he simply could not cope with it. This is my entirely subjective impression.

You took over the commission just under two months ago. What challenges have arisen during this time, and how do they compare to those that emerged immediately after the relaunch in 2023?

It cannot be said that these are similar challenges. For instance, comparing to the previous head, I am certainly in a better position. After the relaunch, there was a need to study internal procedures, which are quite complex. I have already figured this out while being a member of the commission.

Currently, the priority task is to conduct the already initiated procedures as qualitatively and efficiently as possible. Another area I am focusing on is enhancing the commission's capacity. Our body is essentially not digitized. There is no electronic document management system; everything is printed out.

The state did not anticipate beforehand that sooner or later, a relaunch of the commission would take place. Funding was not allocated. Now, we need to conduct large-scale competitive procedures while simultaneously maximally increasing our capacity.

Глава Высшей квалификационной комиссии судей Андрей Пасечник6

One can imagine the backlog of appointments and evaluations that has accumulated over 4 years.

In fact, because the body has not operated since 2019, we have encountered such an emergency situation in the judiciary. Judges resigned, the system was exposed, vacancies appeared, but were not filled by anyone. I can provide figures. Honestly, they are astonishing.

Currently, we have 1258 vacant positions in the first instance courts — 1258 judges who should be administering justice, but they simply do not exist. This is a massive problem that, unfortunately, undermines the state's capacity.

There are 3 courts — for instance, two in the Odesa region and one in Dnipropetrovsk region — that are essentially not functioning. There are no judges there at all. And people have no opportunity to file a statement or receive a decision. This means that the state, as a whole, cannot ensure citizens' access to justice. This is precisely what we are working on now. Our main task is to select these judges and engage them in work.

What percentage does 1258 judges represent of the total?

Almost 30%. This is a huge shortfall of judges.

And the problem, by the way, is not only with the first instance courts. The issue is much greater with the appellate courts. There are courts where only 4 judges remain, while there should be 25. They are under an enormous workload and can barely cope. For instance, in the Kyiv appellate court, there are currently 45 vacancies out of a staff of 145 positions. This means a third of the judges are absent.

For some reason, this is not widely discussed, but I would like you to understand: it is not that judges are working inefficiently or intentionally slowing things down. On the contrary, there are many judges who have the right to retire but choose to stay and work under such immense pressure.

Глава Высшей квалификационной комиссии судей Андрей Пасечник7

“Competitions will not conclude even in 2026”

How long will it take to fill the courts with these personnel?

Over the past year, we managed to bring 286 judges into the system. The selection procedure for them was initiated by the previous composition of the commission, and we essentially only had to conduct interviews and check practical works. Since July, these individuals have already been appointed.

However, we currently have fewer resources and more tasks: selection for the first instance, appellate courts, competition for the High Anti-Corruption Court, and qualification assessments for compliance with the positions held. Therefore, this is a difficult question. If nothing changes, the competitions for the first instance will not conclude even in 2026.

Unfortunately, information is being circulated on social networks and some media that the selection will take more than 4 years. This may be done intentionally to discredit the commission and disrupt the recruitment of new judges. But I assure you: we are making every effort to expedite the processes.

In particular, to improve the procedures, we are actively collaborating with the parliament. Our international partners are currently assisting with electronic document management; they have already created and launched the electronic candidate file, and the process of creating the electronic judge file is underway.

Because, frankly, time has somewhat stood still here. We still have paper files for judges. And dozens of people are involved in the file management process. All previous testing in the commission was also conducted on paper: a person would check boxes on sheets with assignments, and then everything was verified.

The forecasts for the appellate instance are more optimistic. We currently have a competition for 550 vacant positions. Starting in October, we will begin testing (by the way, for the first time in the commission's history, testing will be digital) and plan to complete the exams by the end of the year. The interview stage will follow. This means that the results of the competition will be available at the end of 2025. But it is not possible to expedite this. Currently, we have 15 commission members, and we personally conduct the work checks and interviews.

Are you also directly involved in both the selection and evaluation of judges?

Yes, of course. Besides being the head of the body, I am also a rapporteur, just like my colleagues. This means I work on the judge's file — a compilation of all materials regarding the judge's professional and other activities. This can be one volume or it can be five.

We receive judges through auto-distribution — a computer system randomly assigns the rapporteur, and then we work on a specific file. I review all these materials, and if necessary, I make additional requests to law enforcement or other bodies, including the SBU, NABU, etc.

Глава Высшей квалификационной комиссии судей Андрей Пасечник8

Does it take 10 years for judges to undergo requalification?

How long does the qualification assessment of one judge take?

On average, it takes about one month. But this is only for reviewing materials and conducting an interview. Overall, it takes much longer. We also assess professional qualities through testing and practical works. This is not done individually for each judge because they are grouped. Therefore, it is difficult to say how much time is spent on one judge.

How many judges are currently awaiting this assessment? And how often are there conclusions that they are not honorable or do not meet their positions?

Currently, there are about 1600 judges who have not yet undergone qualification assessment. Many more have already passed.

In a year, we conducted assessments for 133 judges. Of these, 29 were found not to meet their positions. This means we recommend their dismissal, but our conclusion is still verified by the High Council of Justice.

So it turns out that for the requalification of 1600 judges, it will take about 10 more years?

At this pace, yes, it will take a long time. But again, in each of these procedures, we are looking for ways to expedite the process. Yes, we have already obtained automated access to the overwhelming majority of state registries. Previously, we made written requests sent by mail, and only after a month did we receive some information. Therefore, we have already significantly sped up the procedure and are working on other optimization options.

There are objective factors that we cannot overcome. The majority of the work for the qualification assessment must be done personally, and we cannot delegate it. Obviously, 15 people</