Advisory Group of Experts selects three candidates for the Constitutional Court as the competition continues

Today, on November 7, the names of candidates for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) who passed the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) evaluation on high moral integrity were revealed. This round of the competition aimed to select two judges for the CCU under the quota of the Judges’ Congress. However, only three candidates advanced to the next stage. According to the Law “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”, there must be at least two candidates per vacancy, necessitating the announcement of a new competition soon.

The following candidates will proceed to the next stage, which involves assessing their legal competence:

Natalia Denysenko — Deputy Head of the Department of Comparative Legal Analysis and Head of the Comparative Research Division of the Legal Department at the CCU Secretariat.

Vladyslav Kostenko — Judge of the Kovpakivskyi District Court in Sumy.

Oksana Soldatenko — Professor at the Department of Law, Poltava University of Economics and Trade.

Regarding Olena Prachuk, no decision was made, as only one foreign AGE member voted in her favor, while at least two such votes are required.

The following candidate was deemed not to meet the high moral integrity criterion:

Mykhailo Smokovych, Head of the Administrative Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court. Interestingly, the AGE vote was split: all Ukrainian members supported him, while all foreign members opposed him. Since international experts hold decisive voting power, Smokovych did not advance.

This highlights the importance of involving international experts in the selection process for key judicial bodies and granting them decisive voting power to filter out unfit candidates. Ideally, Ukraine should return to the model of the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE), which comprises entirely foreign members and successfully selected judges for the High Anti-Corruption Court. The European Commission also emphasized the value of international councils in its recent report.

Other candidates who did not advance include:

Denys Hrytsenko, lawyer.

Oleksandr Tkachenko, retired judge of the Commercial Court of Mykolaiv Region.

Serhiy Medyuk, judge of the Central District Court in Mykolaiv.

DEJURE Foundation continues to monitor the selection process. Previously, Volodymyr Riznyk was appointed to the CCU under the Verkhovna Rada’s quota, and Alla Oliynyk was selected under the Congress of Judges quota. These are the first judges appointed under the new selection rules involving the AGE, which includes international experts.