Competition for the Constitutional Court under the Congress of Judges’ quota — a lack of qualified candidates, again

Another setback on the path to filling vacancies at the Constitutional Court of Ukraine: the Advisory Group of Experts has completed its assessment of the candidates’ professional competence and did not recommend either of the two candidates who had recently passed the integrity screening.

In other words, the Congress of Judges of Ukraine once again put forward a list of weak candidates who failed the competence assessment conducted by independent experts. Under such conditions, appointing judges to the two vacant CCU positions is almost impossible.

As a result, the competition has again reached a dead end, and the Constitutional Court remains understaffed: five positions are currently vacant—more than one third of the Court’s total composition. Simultaneously, another competition is underway for two positions under the quota of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, but this is insufficient to resolve the problem of understaffing.

An integrity-driven and professional composition of the Constitutional Court is a guarantee of human rights protection and one of the key conditions for Ukraine’s further European integration. Due to the premature termination of the selection under the Congress of Judges’ quota, a new competition must be held. DEJURE Foundation calls on integrity-driven and professional candidates to apply, so that the Constitutional Court can be promptly and fully staffed and effectively perform its constitutional role.