A working meeting will be held at the Office of the President of Ukraine on Thursday, September 16, with the participation of the heads of the judicial bodies, in particular the chairman of the Council of Judges, the Supreme Court, representatives of the parliament, as well as G7 ambassadors.
According to Paragraph six of Clause 23-1 of the Final and Transitional Provisions of Law No. 1635-ІХ "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Procedure for Election (Appointment) to the Positions of Members of the High Council of Justice and the Activities of Disciplinary Inspectors of the High Council of Justice" dated July 14, 2021 , the stakeholder responsible for the creation of the Ethics Council submits a list of candidates for members of the Ethics Council to the chairman of the High Council of Justice within thirty days from the date of receipt of the respective petition from the chairman of the High Council of Justice.
Among other stakeholders is the Council of Judges of Ukraine, which shall delegate three representatives to the Ethics Council. However, at today's meeting, the Council of Judges was unable to delegate its representatives to the Ethics Council. This raises concerns about advancing judicial reform due to the halt of its most important part – cleaning up the judicial system.
"I will keep from derailing the main reform of the country, which I promised the Ukrainians and which I initiated. Every illegal action aimed at blocking judicial reform will be immediately evaluated and rebuffed. I will not allow judges, who hamper the reform and the cleanup of the judicial system, to deprive the Ukrainians of the right to justice. And judges, who want to work in a transparent system, should have full support," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The head of state also expressed gratitude to international organizations that provide assistance to Ukraine to support judicial reform and combat corruption and last week delegated experts to the contest commission that will select members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges and the Ethics Council.