Draft Law No. 13697: “Batkivshchyna” once again attacks the role of international experts in the selection of judges and law enforcement bodies

A new document has appeared in the Verkhovna Rada that could reshape the system of selection in judicial, law enforcement, and anti-corruption bodies. Draft Law No. 13697, registered by 19 MPs from Batkivshchyna, proposes in effect to roll back the participation of international experts in competitions for key bodies and transfer control to Ukrainian institutions and a newly created structure — the National Assembly of Heroes of Ukraine.

What exactly do they want to change?

In the judicial sector, international experts are planned to be removed from selection procedures. In particular:

• from the Law on the Constitutional Court of Ukraine — the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE),

• from the Law on the High Anti-Corruption Court — the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE).

Instead of the PCIE, they want to involve the Public Integrity Council (PIC) in the process.

The Ethics Council, which checks candidates for the High Council of Justice (HCJ), is also “under attack.” International members are planned to be replaced by representatives of unreformed Ukrainian institutions — from the Congress of Law Universities and the Bar Council to the Council of Prosecutors and, of course, the Council of Judges. The latter has more than once delegated questionable members to selection commissions.

Creation of the National Assembly of Heroes of Ukraine

The MPs propose to establish a permanent “consultative-advisory” body — the National Assembly of Heroes of Ukraine. Its members would be Heroes of Ukraine who participated in combat. It is this Assembly that is given the key role: it should conduct competitions and determine candidates for leadership positions in NABU, SAP, SBI, NACP, and ESBU. Additionally, it should form audit commissions for annual inspections of these bodies.

The idea is not new. Back in July, Yuliia Tymoshenko declared: “Anti-corruption bodies must be formed by Heroes of Ukraine, not international lobbyists.”

This is not Batkivshchyna’s first attempt to move against international experts. Previously, its MPs, together with OPZZh, appealed to the Constitutional Court, trying to declare the participation of international experts in competitions and supervisory bodies unconstitutional.

Where does this draft law lead?

The DEJURE Foundation consistently emphasises that international experts are the gold standard of selection. They have for years protected competitions from political influence and backroom deals. It is no coincidence that, at the start of the full-scale war, Putin publicly opposed their participation in the selection of judges — because this mechanism works.

We described in detail, in an article for Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, the differences between activities involving international experts and those without them.

Draft Law No. 13697 is yet another attempt to roll reform back. The idea of the “Assembly of Heroes” appears more like a political project and a populist gesture than a genuine instrument of independent selection.