Ukraine’s parliament on Nov. 12 dismissed 227 judges – a sizeable portion of the total estimated 9,000.
A statement
published on the Verkhovna Rada’s website indicated that most of those
dismissed – 212 – had submitted resignations.
Another
three were dismissed due to indictments against them, seven were fired because
they had reached the age limit of 65, and another two because they were “unable
to fulfill their mandates.”
Two were
released for violating their oaths, though no details were released on what
these violations entailed.
While the
move to fire 227 judges may seem quite drastic, Karl Volokh of the Public
Lustration Committee shrugged off the notion that the dismissal could be tied
to ongoing lustration against judicial officials.
Since the
High Council of Justice, the body responsible for approving judiciary
dismissals, had been on hiatus until recently due to changes after the
EuroMaidan Revolution, the number of those judges wanting to resign or needing
to step down “built up over a long period,” said Volokh.
“For over a
year and a half, the number of people who’ve decided to quit for their own
reasons has simply built up … or maybe some of these judges were working in
Crimea or they surpassed the age limit,” he said.
As for
whether or not some cases could be tied to lustration against judges, Volokh
said he believed these were only “isolated cases.”
“This
doesn’t mean anything yet,” he said.
Staff writer Oleg Sukhov contributed to this
report.
