The draft law 3711-д was supported as a whole by 293 MPs. 255 MPs voted in favour of amendment № 453, which grants international experts a casting vote in the formation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ).
The draft law stipulates that the Selection Commission of the HQCJ will consist of six members: three of them will be the current or retired judges, three of them will be the independent international experts. Amendment № 453, adopted on the 29th of June, stipulates that the vote of international experts will play a decisive role if that the votes of the Selection Commission for a particular candidate are divided.
At the same time, the MPs did not support the amendments № 197 and № 200, according to which the decision on the final composition of the HQCJ could be made by the Selection Commission without the participation of the unreformed High Council of Justice (HCJ).
“We welcome the decision of the MPs to give independent international experts a casting vote in the selection of the High Qualification Commission of Judges’ members. Only in this way will we be able to reduce the influence of the judicial mafia on the selection of more than 2,000 vacant judicial positions. However, the draft law still leaves room for manipulation by the corrupt HCJ. According to the draft law, the Selection Commission is obliged to submit 32 candidates to the HQCJ for consideration by the HCJ, and the latter is to elect 16 members of the HQCJ. It is obvious that the corrupt and unreformed HCJ will choose the most loyal candidates for the HQCJ, not the most worthy ones. The task of reforming the HCJ with the decisive role of international experts is becoming extremely important for the viability of judicial reform. ”
- says Mykhailo Zhernakov, Chair of the Board of DEJURE Foundation
Earlier the US and EU Embassies called for changing the text of the draft law 3711-д and giving international experts a casting vote in the formation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges.
The need to give a casting vote to international experts was also stated by the President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio during the Zero Corruption Forum. Democracy in Action on June 8.