On July 27, 2023, at a meeting of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the issue of compliance of public associations that submitted documents to the Commission with the requirements for participation in the meeting of representatives of public associations to establish the Public Integrity Council was considered.
The Commission reviewed documents of 21 public organizations:
- NGO “STOP ILLEGAL” (USREOU code 40111224),
- All-Ukrainian NGO “UKRAINIAN BAR ASSOCIATION” (USREOU code 26334715),
- NGO “CIVIL CONTROL PLATFORM (CCP)” (USREOU code 39689459),
- NGO “HROMADSKE RADIO” (USREOU code 33408627),
- Vinnytsia regional public organization “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE” (USREOU code 21725144),
- NGO “TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL UKRAINE” (USREOU code 23906275),
- NGO “CENTER FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES” (USREOU code 35139190),
- NGO “CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC STRATEGY” (USREOU code 39795443),
- NGO “UKRAINIAN CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN POLICY” (EDRPOU code 40064066),
- NGO “STOP CORRUPTION” (USREOU code 39946405),
- NGO “INSTITUTE OF LEGISLATIVE IDEAS (ILI)” (USREOU code 41738054),
- NGO “CHESNO MOVEMENT (CHESNO)” (USREOU code 40219487),
- NGO “CIVIC PLATFORM THE NEW COUNTRY” (EDRPOU code 39331377),
- NGO “MEDIA INITIATIVE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (MIHR)” (EDRPOU code 40750793),
- NGO “DEJURE FOUNDATION (DEJURE)” (EDRPOU code 40700323),
- NGO “CENTER FOR INFORMATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS” (EDRPOU code 38405259),
- NGO “BOOK 14” (EDRPOU code 40067390),
- NGO “ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTION CENTER" (EDRPOU code 38238280),
- NGO “PEOPLE AND LAW” (EDRPOU code 39853536),
- NGO “CENTER FOR POLITICAL AND LEGAL REFORMS” (EDRPOU code 24583227),
- Vinnytsia regional NGO “WE ARE TOGETHER” (EDRPOU code 26287186).
The Commission concluded that five public organizations did not meet the requirements of Article 87 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges”.
These are:
- Public organization “STOP ILLEGAL”. The Commission concluded that the analysis of the documents does not give grounds to recognize it as meeting the requirements set forth in parts eleven and twelve of Article 87 of the Law. In particular, the NGO “STOP ILLEGAL”, contrary to the requirements of paragraphs 4, 5 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law, did not submit the following documents to the Commission: copies of reports on the results of the implementation of the projects involving international technical assistance (if any), copies of reports on the results of the financial audit of at least two implemented projects involving international technical assistance or a copy of the report on the results of the audit of the public association activity;
- Vinnytsia regional public organization “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE”. The analysis of the documents does not give grounds to recognize it as meeting the requirements set forth in parts eleven and twelve of Article 87 of the Law.
In particular, the Vinnytsia regional NGO “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE” did not comply with the requirements of paragraph 4 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law and did not submit to the Commission a recommendation letter from an international organization of impeccable reputation or from the implementer of international technical assistance project on the successful experience in cooperation, since the NGO “Podilskii Center for Human Rights”, which submitted the letter of recommendation, according to its content and the registration data of the said NGO, is neither an international organization nor an implementer of international technical assistance projects within the meaning of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law.
Also, the Vinnytsia regional public organization “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE” did not comply with the requirements of paragraph 2 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law and did not submit a copy of the charter of the NGO “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE”, a separate structural unit of which is the Vinnytsia regional public organization “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE”, as stated in paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2 of the Regulations on the Vinnytsia regional public organization “UNION OF LAWYERS OF UKRAINE”;
- the public organization “PEOPLE AND LAW”. The analysis of the documents does not give grounds to recognize it as meeting the requirements set out in parts eleven and twelve of Article 87 of the Law. In particular, contrary to the requirements of paragraphs 3, 5 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law, the NGO “PEOPLE AND LAW” did not submit the following documents to the Commission: copies of reports on the results of the financial audit of at least two implemented projects involving international technical assistance or a copy of the report on the results of the audit of the public association activity;
- Vinnytsia regional public organization “WE ARE TOGETHER”. The analysis of the documents does not give grounds to recognize it as meeting the requirements set forth in parts eleven and twelve of Article 87 of the Law. In particular, the Vinnytsia regional public organization “WE ARE TOGETHER”, contrary to the requirements of paragraphs 4, 5 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law, did not submit the following documents to the Commission: copies of reports on the results of the implementation of the projects involving international technical assistance (if any); copies of reports on the results of the financial audit of at least two implemented projects involving international technical assistance or a copy of the report on the results of the audit of the public association activity. At the same time, the application for participation in the meeting of representatives of public associations states that the Vinnytsia regional public organization “WE ARE TOGETHER” has not directly cooperated with international organizations to implement joint projects, nor has it used international technical assistance funds, and therefore is unable to provide reports and letters of recommendation in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 4, 5 of part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law;
- the public organization “STOP CORRUPTION”. The analysis of the documents does not give grounds to recognize it as meeting the requirements set out in parts eleven and twelve of Article 87 of the Law. In particular, the NGO “STOP CORRUPTION” did not submit the following documents to the Commission: a biographical certificate of a representative of the NGO; a recommendation letter from an international organization with an impeccable reputation on successful experience in cooperation or from an international technical assistance project, a declaration of a person authorized to perform the functions of state or local authorities regarding this candidate with his/her signature.
Guided by Articles 87, 101 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges”, the Commission concluded that the remaining 16 NGOs meet the requirements for participation in the meeting of representatives of public associations to establish the Public Integrity Council, the announcement of which was published on the official website of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine on July 05, 2023.