You're reading: Poroshenko appoints 75 judges to Supreme Court, including 15 controversial

President Petro Poroshenko on May 7 appointed 75 new Supreme Court judges, including 15 who had been vetoed by the Public Integrity Council — the judiciary’s civil society watchdog — over violations of professional ethics and integrity standards. The judges were selected by the High Qualification Commission of Judges and the High Council of Justice and then formally appointed by Poroshenko.

The new judges will join the 118 incumbent Supreme Court justices, who were selected in 2017 as part of the relaunch of the court system that aimed to oust corrupt judges.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the new judges, Poroshenko said that one of the signs of a healthy court system is that the government doesn’t always win in judicial disputes.

“We should get used to courts supporting the opposite side – to the new European reality,” Poroshenko said.

He also urged President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy “to respect the decisions of the independent and just court.”

Poroshenko himself has been repeatedly accused of interfering in the judiciary, including by judges, but he denies ever doing so.

On the same day as Poroshenko appointed the Supreme Court judges, the newly-established Anti-Corruption Court came closer to launching by electing the head of the court. The long-anticipated new court will be hearing high-level corruption cases.

Political ties

According to the Public Integrity Council, the new appointments may not be as “just” as Poroshenko claims. At least three-fourths of the new Supreme Court are made up of cadres from the old judiciary.

Halya Chyzhyk, a member of the council, argued on Facebook that the new appointments demonstrate Poroshenko’s refusal to make the judiciary independent. Specifically, she cited the appointment of Tetiana Malashenkova, an ex-member of the High Council of Justice, and Igor Benedysyuk, ex-head of the High Council of Justice.

Malashenkova worked as a lawyer for Poroshenko’s Ukrprominvest group in 2001 to 2005 and was a candidate for parliament from the Poroshenko Bloc in 2014. She was appointed to the High Council of Justice by Poroshenko in 2015.

The Public Integrity Council also accused Malashenkova of covering up for judges who unlawfully tried EuroMaidan protesters and of violating asset disclosure rules.

Malashenkova could not be reached for comment through the press offices of the High Council of Justice and the Supreme Court.

Old guard

Benedysyuk, another new judge of the Supreme Court, was also appointed to the High Council of Justice by Poroshenko in 2015.

Additionally, he was awarded a weapon by Poroshenko in 2015, even though the law bans such awards for judges, according to the Public Integrity Council. Benedysyuk argued that the award was lawful.

Benedysyuk and ex-High Council of Justice members Malashenkova, Natalia Volokovytska and Mykola Husak, who were also appointed to the Supreme Court, are accused of having a conflict of interest because the High Council of Justice appoints Supreme Court judges. They have denied there is such a conflict.

According to his official biography, in 1994 Benedysyuk was simultaneously a judge of a Russian court martial and a Ukrainian one. Russian citizenship was a necessary precondition for being a judge under Russian law, and Public Integrity Council members suspect he either used to have or still has Russian citizenship.

Benedysyuk denied having been a Russian citizen, but failed to clarify when he received his Ukrainian citizenship or explain how he could be a judge in Russia without having Russian citizenship.

Benedysyuk and Volkovytska have been investigated for alleged illegal interference in the automatic distribution of cases and issuing unlawful rulings at the High Commercial Court under former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Serhiy Mohyl, a nephew of pro-Russian politician Serhiy Kivalov and a newly-appointed Supreme Court judge, has also been investigated in the case.

They have not been officially charged and deny the accusations of wrongdoing.

Another controversial new judge of the Supreme Court is Maksym Titov, the son of High Qualification Commission member Yuriy Titov, who has been accused of having a conflict of interest in this case. He denies that. Titov is a member of the supervisory board of Kivalov’s Odesa Judicial Academy.

Anti-corruption court

Meanwhile, Olena Tanasevych was elected on May 7 as the chairwoman of the newly-established High Anti-Corruption Court.

Tanasevych is a former judge of Kharkiv Oblast’s Pechenygy District Court. Anti-corruption watchdogs, who analyzed the backgrounds and rulings of all the candidates, did not uncover any compromising information on her.

Lawyer Markiyan Halabala, who has been praised by civil society and anti-corruption activists; Oleg Pavlyshyn, an ex-judge from Lviv; and Olga Salandyak, an ex-judge from Vinnytsya Oblast, had also been nominated for the job of chairing the court, but their candidacies were rejected.

In April, Poroshenko appointed 38 judges to the newly established High Anti-Corruption Court. These include seven judges who had previously been identified by anti-corruption watchdogs as not meeting integrity standards.