Seven candidates: who can become a Constitutional Court judge under the President’s quota?
The Selection Commission recommends selecting two new judges of the Constitutional Court from among the seven main candidates. Oleg Tatarov’s proteges were not included in this list, but the integrity of these seven candidates is also doubted.
Mykhailo Zhernakov, Chair of the Board of the DEJURE Foundation, published the list of these candidates in the order of their ranking:
- Oleksandr Vodyannikov
- Oleksandr Petryshyn
- Oleksandr Sybiha
- Oksana Shcherbanyuk
- Mykhailo Savchyn
- Oksana Hryshchuk
- Oleksandra Karmaza
However, as of October 25, no official information appeared on the President’s website.
Currently, it is not possible to appoint the Constitutional Court judges, as there are no vacancies and some nominated candidates raise quite logical doubts.
More details about which threats pose the competition for the position of the CCU judges under the President’s quota can be found here.
For example, judge Oleksandr Sybiha did not declare the 719 sq.m. house he lived in for several years, and his family owns property that is difficult to explain by official income.
Moreover, judge Sybiha was the chairman of the panel of judges, which actually allowed the construction on the territory of the ensemble of St. Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO-protected territory.
These and other facts led to the Public Integrity Council issuing a negative opinion in regard to judge Sybiha. However, it seems that the members of the Selection Commission, who selected candidates for the position of CCU judges under the President’s quota, are not interested in all this.
As well as in the fact that one of the candidates they selected, Oleksandra Karmaza, may be politically engaged. Karmaza was a candidate from the “Servant of the People” party and a member of the CEC from this political force during the Parliamentary elections.
You can find more details about the candidates in our analysis.
We call on President Zelensky to publicly assure that he will appoint judges of the Constitutional Court only after the relevant vacancies appear in the manner prescribed by the Constitution when the terms of office of Oleksandr Tupytsky and Oleksandr Kasminin expire. Otherwise, for as long as nine years (the term of office of judges of the Constitutional Court), the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court and any of its decisions will be questioned.
