“Don’t Touch the Supreme Court”: MPs Push Forward Draft Law 13165-2

Ukrainian MPs are trying to shield Supreme Court (SC) judges from scrutiny. The Verkhovna Rada’s Legal Committee has supported draft law 13165-2 — a version even worse than its predecessors 13165 and 13165-1. Experts from the DEJURE Foundation previously emphasised that this new initiative merely imitates integrity checks for SC judges rather than creating a genuine mechanism to clean up the court.

The new version was introduced by Ivan Kalaur, an MP from the Sluha Narodu party and deputy chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee. This draft not only excludes Supreme Court judges from any screening, but also limits the timeframe for verifying declarations to just the latest reporting period — essentially, a single year. This approach blocks any real renewal of the highest judicial body and threatens Ukraine’s international commitments, EU integration prospects, and rule of law development.

Draft law 13165-2, which may be voted on in Parliament in the coming days, fails to meet the requirements of the €50 billion Ukraine Facility support programme. Under this programme, Ukraine is expected to improve the system for verifying judges’ integrity declarations by Q2 2025, including clarifying their scope, extending the review period, and strengthening verification mechanisms. The programme also states that these changes are necessary to address corruption risks within the Supreme Court and to improve the selection of new judges “with the involvement of independent experts.” However, it provides no clear definition of “independent experts.”

This ambiguity allows the government to present reform rollbacks as progress. In all previous EU-related agreements, “independent experts” clearly referred to international experts. Nevertheless, in draft law 13165, MPs chose to neutralise one of the most effective tools of judicial reform by replacing international experts with the Public Integrity Council, whose role is merely consultative. In draft 13165-2, even this limited model is abandoned altogether.

DEJURE Foundation has repeatedly stated that Supreme Court judges must be vetted by a commission that includes international experts, such as the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE). Composed solely of representatives nominated by international donors, the PCIE proved highly effective during the 2018 selection of judges for the High Anti-Corruption Court.

True reform of the Supreme Court is only possible with the involvement of both civil society and international experts, and through comprehensive vetting that covers the entire professional history of sitting judges and candidates, not just their recent activity. The full scope of problems within the Supreme Court is laid out in the investigative project “The Supreme Court Unmasked: Corruption, Opposing Reforms, and Russian Passports.”

We call for draft law 13165-2 to be revised to include a credible integrity screening mechanism for current Supreme Court judges. This must involve mandatory vetting based on declarations of integrity, with the participation of international experts and coverage of the entire lifetime of each judge, in order to eliminate corruption risks and restore public trust in justice.