The vacancies in the Constitutional Court should be filled only after a change in the procedure for appointing judges, – Venice Commission

Yesterday, the Venice Commission issued its opinion on draft law №4533 on the constitutional procedure. The Commission’s experts stressed that the draft law does not contain a key recommendation of the Commission – the inclusion of international experts in the selection procedure of the Constitutional Court judges.

The Venice Commission welcomed the President’s withdrawal of draft law №4288, which provided for the dissolution of judges of the Constitutional Court. At the same time, the Commission continues to insist on the involvement of international experts in the procedure for appointing judges to the Constitutional Court.

According to the Venice Commission, it is essential to appoint judges of the Constitutional Court only after the procedure for appointing judges is changed. The same position is held by the relevant Ukrainian NGOs and the Ambassadors of the G7, who called on delegates of the Congress of Judges to postpone consideration of the appointment of the Constitutional Court judge.

The Venice Commission also supported the idea of increasing the number of votes required for the decisions of the Constitutional Court, but in such a manner as not to completely block the court’s decision-making process.

According to the Venice Commission, it will be possible to return the current voting procedure after a certain number of the Constitutional Court judges will be appointed according to the new procedure.

“Currently, there are two vacancies in the Constitutional Court, so the Parliament has a chance to amend the procedure for appointing judges of the Constitutional Court. The DEJURE Foundation and its partners have already developed an appropriate selection model and the draft law.
We call on the Members of Parliament to submit a draft law to change the selection procedure, or to bring the draft law №4533 in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, ”

– says Stepan Berko, Advocacy Manager at the DEJURE Foundation

Looking back, in February the Parliament appointed the judge of the Constitutional Court Victor Kychun without any competition and integrity checks. However, the Congress of judges, which took place on March 9-11, failed to appoint a judge of the Constitutional Court.