On September 06, 2024, a roundtable discussion on “Optimization of the court network in Ukraine: current state, challenges and prospects” was held in Kyiv, with the participation of the Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Andrii Pasichnyk, as well as members of the Commission Volodymyr Luhanskyi and Halyna Shevchuk.
The event was organized by the EU Project Pravo-Justice in cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy. Pravo-Justice actively supports the Ukrainian judiciary in organizing the work of courts, reforming (optimizing) local general courts, which contributes to the efficient use of public funds, improving access to justice and raising the standards of court work.
First of all, the roundtable participants discussed how to ensure the stable functioning of the judicial system in the context of russian military aggression. They discussed the urgent needs for implementing the reform and the long-term prospects for optimizing the judicial network in view of current challenges.
The Chairman of the HQCJU Andrii Pasichnyk, noted the relevance of this important discussion. “We are talking about optimizing the network of courts, which is obviously not an aim in itself. We are focusing on this issue in order to ensure public access to justice”. The Chairman of the Commission emphasized that the optimization process itself is only half the battle. Equally important are the issues of court staffing, including the selection of new judges.
Mr Pasichnyk also informed about the current competitions held by the Commission, in particular the competition to the appellate courts, which is extremely important considering the difficult situation in the appellate instance. He highlighted that the selection of judges is one of the indicators of the Ukraine Facility Plan 2024–2027, the European Union’s financial assistance programme for Ukraine.
Specifically, the Chairman of the Commission focused on the competition procedures and made some proposals for their improvement based on the experience gained by the Commission.
The participants of the event got an overview of the results of optimization of the system of local general courts in such countries as Poland, Lithuania and Finland, discussed the concept of optimization of local general courts in Ukraine on the example of Transcarpathian and Lviv regions, and exchanged views on the criteria and methodology for its implementation. Overall, the roundtable demonstrated the effectiveness of international support for Ukraine in this difficult period.
The roundtable was attended by representatives of the legislative and judicial branches of government.
The EU Project Pravo-Justice was presented by Deputy Team Leader of the Project in Ukraine Olha Sribniak, Senior International Expert on Judicial Reform (Poland) Anna Adamska-Gallant, Deputy Head of National Courts Administration of Lithuania, International Expert (Lithuania) Vaida Petravičienė, and International Expert (Finland) Kari Kiesiläinen.
