On October 03, 2024, an offsite meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy was held in Dnipro. The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine was represented by Deputy Chairman of the HQCJ Oleksii Omelian.
The participants of the meeting discussed optimization of the network of local general courts in Dnipropetrovsk region and the problems of staffing and financial support of courts.
Oleksii Omelian informed the audience about the competition to the appellate courts.
The Deputy Chairman of the HQCJ reported that on October 02, 2024, the Commission started testing for general knowledge of law and knowledge of four specializations - civil, criminal, administrative and economic. The tests, which will last until October 23, 2024, are to be taken by 1836 candidates. He emphasized that filling judicial vacancies in the appellate courts is a critical step to overcome the staffing crisis in this instance.
In addition, Oleksii Omelian noted that the Commission is actively working on preparing for the exams to the High Anti-Corruption Court and its Appeals Chamber, continues qualification evaluation and carries out procedures for the secondment of judges.
The focus was also on strengthening the capacity of judicial governance bodies and the Public Integrity Council as an subsidiary body to assist the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in establishing whether a judge (candidate for the position of judge) meets the criteria of professional ethics and integrity for the purposes of qualification evaluation.
The meeting was held with the support of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program and the Center of Policy and Legal Reform (CPLR).
The event was attended by: Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy Denys Maslov and other members of the Committee, Head of the Criminal Cassation Court within the Supreme Court Oleksandr Marchuk, Head of the Council of Judges of Ukraine Bohdan Monich, Acting Head of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine Maksym Pampura, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration Serhiy Lysak, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council Mykola Lukashuk, Head of the Dnipro Court of Appeal Nataliia Derkach, and representative of the CPLR Yuliia Kyrychenko.
