Any appointment to the HCJ without the recommendation of the Ethics Council is illegal

At the moment, the Congress of representatives of legal higher education institutions has postponed the election of a new member of the HCJ. And this is absolutely the right decision.

The law of Ukraine on the HCJ reform clearly stipulates that the Ethics Council provides an opinion to the body convening the relevant congress or conference on the compliance of each candidate with the criteria of professional ethics and integrity (Article 9, paragraph 8).

As the Council of Judges delayed the delegation of candidates to the Ethics Council for more than two months, it began its work much later, on November 9, 2021, instead of September. As a result, the Ethics Council would not have had time to screen candidates before the Congress of legal scholars, which is taking place on December 10.

“Now the Ethics Council is working at full speed. First, they need to approve the Rules of Procedure – yesterday, on December 9, they approved the third section. Its Deputy Head, Anthony Hooper, who chaired the HACC Public Council of International Experts, called on everyone to provide information on the HCJ candidates and current members. Any appointment of the HCJ members without the opinion of the Ethics Council is illegal, and therefore all subjects of appointment must wait for the opinion of the Ethics Council on the integrity of each of the candidates”

– says Mykhailo Zhernakov, Chair of the Board of the DEJURE Foundation.

The candidate for the Constitutional Court Oleksandr Petryshyn, who heads the organizing committee of the Congress of representatives of legal higher education institutions, may influence the appointment of Dmytro Lukianov to the HCJ. In turn, Lukianov was a member of the Selection Commission, which selected candidates for the Constitutional Court and voted in favour of recommending Oleksandr Petryshyn for the post of the CCU judge.