Candidates to the Selection Commission from the Council of Judges — once again difficult to find worthy ones

For six vacancies in the Selection Commission, which will select members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), only two candidates responded from the Council of Judges of Ukraine, which is why the body extended the competition.

At present, the following persons have submitted documents:

• Oleksandr Kotkov — judge of the Commercial Court of the city of Kyiv;

• Volodymyr Petrov — judge of the Commercial Court of Odesa Region.

After a detailed analysis, we will prepare an extended commentary on the integrity of the candidates. But the practice of previous years speaks for itself: the Council of Judges systematically delegates to commissions and advisory bodies people with questionable reputations.

A recent example is the list for the Expert Council from the Council of Judges for vetting future judges of administrative courts: the majority of candidates received serious remarks regarding integrity.

What does this threaten?

If the Council of Judges continues to promote people based on the principle of “loyal to the system,” the Selection Commission will turn into a pocket body. And this poses the risk of ending up with a new HQCJ incapable of ensuring fair and independent selection of judges.

The international experts, who balanced the work of Ukrainian members of the Selection Commission, ceased their mandates on June 1, 2025. Their places are now to be taken by representatives of the Bar Council, the Council of Prosecutors, and the Academy of Legal Sciences. And the first names are already known: among them are those connected to Lidiia Izovitova, figures of journalistic investigations, and even those who pressured the media.

That is, if the composition of the Commission is formed mainly from representatives of the Council of Judges and these bodies, most HQCJ members will be loyal to the old judicial system. This will put an end to the main idea of integrity-based selection. Key tasks of the HQCJ will also be at risk:

• qualification assessment of judges,

• competitions for more than 2,000 vacancies in courts,

• further cleansing of the system.

The only real safeguard now remains the adoption of Draft Law No. 13382. It reinstates the participation of international experts in selection commissions for at least three years, alongside representatives of the Council of Judges. Today, it is more important than ever that the Verkhovna Rada adopt this law. Otherwise, the country will get a “renewed” HQCJ, formed according to the patterns of the old system, where those of low integrity will again occupy key positions.