Member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Vitalii Gatseliuk participated in the XI Summer School on Constitutional Law “Rule of Law and Constitutionalism”, which took place on August 6-13, 2023 in the village of Polyana, Zakarpattia region. The event is traditionally held in cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
This year’s Summer School is dedicated to topical issues of constitutionalism and the rule of law in extreme conditions. During the panel discussion “A Fair Trial: Judicial Reform in Context”, Mr. Gatseliuk shared with the participants the approaches used by the Commission to respond to the challenges faced by the justice system in Ukraine.
Among other things, using the example of the procedure for determining the compliance of public associations with the requirements for participation in meetings of representatives of public associations, which resulted in the adoption of Decision No. 40/zp-23, Vitalii Gatseliuk commented on the interpretation of the set of legal norms defined by parts eleven to fourteen of Article 87 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” applied by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. Thus, the HQCJ determined that the provisions of Article 87 of this Law establish two types of requirements for participation in the meeting of representatives of public associations: positive (part eleven of Article 87 of the Law) and negative (part twelve of Article 87 of the Law). The list of documents for participation in meetings of public associations (part thirteen of Article 87 of the Law) is used by the Commission to decide whether a public association meets these requirements. This list is one of the sources of information for the Commission to decide on the compliance of a public association with the requirements for participation in the meeting. This interpretation allowed the Commission to avoid an overly formal approach when analyzing documents submitted by NGOs and to ensure conditions for broad representation of civil society institutions in the formation of the Public Integrity Council.
The participants of the event – representatives of the scientific and legal community – had the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss a number of important issues related to the judiciary and defense, human rights, and constitutional norms in light of European legal values.