“Dissertation Conveyor” and questionable declarations: Who the Academy is delegating to the HQCJ Selection Commission

The National Academy of Legal Sciences has determined its representatives to the Selection Commission, which will select members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ). Tetiana Kolomoiets and Nataliia Hlynska submitted their documents. And already now, serious questions arise about their activities.

What is wrong with the candidates?

Tetiana Kolomoiets — editor-in-chief of the Legal Scientific Electronic Journal. The publication most likely operates on the principle of a “dissertation conveyor”: there were cases when previously published issues were later supplemented with new articles retroactively. For example, issue No. 2 for 2018 grew from 261 to 303 pages. This creates the illusion of many years of scientific work for those who obtained questionable academic degrees and received budget supplements for them. It is hard to imagine that such manipulations happened without the knowledge of the long-standing editor-in-chief. In addition, Kolomoiets was the academic consultant of Yevhen Leheza, who was involved in plagiarism scandals in articles for Maidan judge Oksana Tsarevych.

Nataliia Hlynska — head of one of the departments at the V.V. Stashys Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Crime Problems. In 2023, she already tried to become a member of the High Council of Justice, but withdrew her candidacy after an interview with the Ethics Council. Most likely due to serious issues with her declarations: dozens of mistakes and the questionable origin of large savings. Sometimes it was “her husband’s income from the 1990s,” sometimes “loans from friends,” which changed from one answer to another.

Such a situation indicates not integrity but a readiness to work according to the old rules.

The mandate of international experts in the Selection Commission, who until now had restrained the entry of questionable candidates into the HQCJ, has ended. And now the decisive word in forming the Selection Commission belongs to Ukrainian institutions — the Academy of Legal Sciences, the Bar Council, the Council of Prosecutors, and the Council of Judges. The first candidates from these structures demonstrate that without international experts, the Commission risks becoming an instrument for replicating the old judicial system.

To prevent this from happening, the Verkhovna Rada must adopt Draft Law No. 13382, which extends the mandate of international experts for at least three years. This is the only way to preserve balance and prevent a rollback of HQCJ reform. The law has already been supported by civil society and the European Commission.

Today, a fundamental question is being decided: whether Ukraine will retain an independent body capable of cleansing the judicial system, or whether we will return to the practice where personnel are selected “for insiders,” and trust in justice is finally lost.