The Ministry of Justice has initiated performance and lustration reviews for judges of Ukraine's courts of law. According to the press service of the ministry, the legal and organizational foundations for such reviews were laid in the bill on the rehabilitation of trust in judicial system of Ukraine, which was approved during the sitting of the government on March 1.
In particular, the bill foresees conducting reviews and removing from
office officials who have passed decisions aimed at limiting the
constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizens. It also aims to
decrease the level of corruption in the court system.
In particular, the review of judges implies an analysis of the
decisions that he/she passed alone or as a part of the judicial panel on
cases regarding the mass protest rallies in Ukraine after Nov. 21,
2013; cases connected to the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
of the VII convocation; and cases of persons who have been declared
political prisoners. Decisions that considerably limit the
constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens are also to be analyzed.
In addition, the bill foresees an analysis of the decisions of the
European Court of Human Rights, which discovered a violation of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
by Ukraine in the judgments of the national courts. An analysis is also
to be conducted on the matter of the disciplinary proceedings against
judges as well on the nature of enforced disciplinary actions, and the
authenticity and completeness of information in the declaration of
income and expenditures of judges and members of their families.
According to the bill, judges who fail to pass the performance and
lustration reviews will be suspended from courts with further
resignation due to the breaking of their oaths.
Besides, all judges who took up their positions after the entry into
force of the law on court organization and the status of judges in 2010
are to be immediately removed from administrative offices upon the
adoption of the bill.
At the same time, the bill suggests a considerable extension of
judicial self-administration, particularly – the election of chiefs of
courts by a secret ballot conducted among judges themselves.
