President Zelensky promises to prevent judicial reform from being blocked

The President made a statement on Monday, September 13, after the Council of Judges failed to delegate candidates to the Ethics Council, which will reform the HCJ.

“I will keep from derailing the main reform of the country, which I promised the Ukrainians and which I initiated. Every illegal action aimed at blocking judicial reform will be immediately evaluated and rebuffed. I will not allow judges, who hamper the reform and the cleanup of the judicial system, to deprive the Ukrainians of the right to justice. And judges, who want to work in a transparent system, should have full support” 

said Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the official website of the President, on Thursday, September 16, a meeting with the heads of judicial governance bodies, including the Head of the Council of Judges, the President of the Supreme Court, MPs and G7 Ambassadors is scheduled.

“The Council of Judges has been inactive for a month and has not developed any regulations to delegate judges to the Ethics Council, and decided to do so on the last day. On the contrary, international organizations have done their job and delegated international experts. The President, as the author of the law and the one responsible for the reform, must use the whole range of tools and tactics to make the reform start. No changes to the legislation are needed for this. The law just has to be obeyed.”

said Mykhailo Zhernakov, Chair of the Board of the DEJURE Foundation.

On Monday, September 13, the Council of Judges blocked judicial reform, failing to delegate judges who volunteered to participate in the Ethics Council.

At the same time, international organizations providing assistance to Ukraine in the field of judicial reform and anti-corruption have delegated experts to the Ethics Council.