Judges of Low Integrity Remain in Office Despite HQCJ’s Findings

Over the past 16 months, the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) has completed the qualification assessment of 265 judges.

Out of 111 negative opinions that the Commission has reviewed definitively, in two cases, the HQCJ upheld the Public Integrity Council’s (PIC) findings during the qualification assessment. Additionally, the Commission recommended the dismissal of 46 judges with negative PIC opinions. However, in 63 cases, the Commission found judges fit for office despite the PIC’s position.

In recent months, the HQCJ’s alignment with the PIC’s negative opinions has remained essentially unchanged, currently standing at 43.2%.

Since the start of the qualification assessment:

• 146 judges (55.1%) have successfully passed and will remain in office;
• 47 judges (17.7%) have been submitted by the HQCJ for dismissal to the High Council of Justice (HCJ);
• The Commission has made other decisions regarding 72 judges (27.2%). Specifically, the HQCJ terminated the assessment of 46 judges because the HCJ allowed them to retire before the integrity check was completed.

In February 2024, the HCJ refused three times to dismiss judges recommended for removal by the HQCJ. These judges include Yuriy Nahornyuk, who systematically helped drunk drivers evade responsibility, as well as Maidan judges Volodymyr Bordeniuk and Olena Shumeiko. With such a stance from the HCJ, judicial cleansing should not be expected in the coming years.

We hope the HCJ will abandon this harmful practice and will not allow judges to evade responsibility for their actions.

At the same time, we expect the HQCJ to provide additional justification for dismissal and remain consistent in its assessments of judges Nagornyuk, Bordeniuk, and Shumeiko.