11 and a half months of the qualification assessment: 46 low-integrity judges retained, 34 recommended for dismissal

After 11 and a half months since the start of the qualification assessment of judges, the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) has completed the assessment of 161 judges.

• 115 judges (71.4%) successfully passed the qualification assessment and will remain in their positions. The Commission recommended the dismissal of 34 judges (21.1%) to the High Council of Justice.

• For 12 judges (7.5%), alternative decisions were made, such as halting the assessment due to resignation, military mobilization, or refusal to undergo the process.

Notably, there has been a significant convergence between the positions of the HQCJ and the Public Integrity Council regarding integrity assessments. Out of 80 negative opinions by the Public Integrity Council that were reviewed substantively by the Commission, the HQCJ recommended dismissal in 34 cases. This raised the alignment rate with the Public Integrity Council’s findings to 42.5% for the first time, though a majority — 57.5% of judges with negative assessments — were still retained.

DEJURE Foundation commends the HQCJ for continuing interviews with judges whose evaluations were put at risk by the Supreme Court’s Grand Chamber ruling in judge Usatyi’s case.

Additionally, DEJURE Foundation supports the High Council of Justice’s decision to dismiss Inna Otrosh, a judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court, who was among those judges whose assessments were jeopardized by the Supreme Court’s ruling.

DEJURE hopes that the HQCJ will prioritize interviews with high-profile judges from this list, such as Oleksandr Lutsenko, Serhiy Chvankin, Pavlo Horbasenko, Petro Zaruba, Serhiy Naryzhnyi, among others.