If international experts leave: consequences for Ukraine’s judicial reform

The tenure of international experts in the Selection Commission, the body responsible for selecting members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), expires on June 1, 2025. Unless the authorities act to extend their mandate, future HQCJ selections will proceed without independent experts’ involvement.

Their seats will be filled by representatives of the prosecution service, the Bar, and the National Academy of Legal Sciences — institutions that remain unreformed. Compared to international experts, their nominees have significantly lower integrity standards. The European Commission has repeatedly called for reform of the Bar in its 2023 and 2024 enlargement reports on Ukraine.

In the coming years, the HQCJ will select thousands of judges who will serve for more than 30 years.

The situation is escalating due to pressure from the State Bureau of Investigations on the HQCJ, as stated by the Commission’s own members. Five criminal proceedings opened by the SBI based on complaints from low-integrity judges and politicians against HQCJ members are obstructing the Commission’s work and delaying the judicial qualification assessment. If the current members of the Commission cannot withstand the pressure and decide to resign, their replacements will be selected without the participation of international experts.

Parliament must urgently extend the tenure of international experts in the HQCJ Selection Commission. This is essential to ensure the appointment of qualified and decent candidates to fill HQCJ vacancies. Otherwise, a compromised HQCJ will undermine both the selection of judges for first-instance and appellate courts and the qualification assessment of sitting judges.