Judicial reform

Trust in the judiciary hit a record low in 2015, bottoming out at 3%. The next year, then-President Petro Poroshenko launched a series of judicial reforms intended to improve the level of trust, including rebuilding the Supreme Court from scratch, implementing qualification assessments to evaluate the professionalism and integrity of judges in lower courts, considering outsiders for judicial posts and even broadcasting job interviews for new judges online. However, the reforms promised under Poroshenko were barely implemented. The competition for new judges was never properly held, and judges with questionable reputations and integrity not only continued to submit rulings but also completely took over judicial institutions.

It should be acknowledged that the current composition of the Supreme Court is not a result of a transparent, trusted selection process. Moreover, once tainted judges make it to the Supreme Court, it is almost impossible to investigate them or bring liability to alleged misdeeds revealed during their selection.

The High Council of Justice is responsible for conducting disciplinary cases against judges, and the body has already turned a blind eye to violations by greenlighting corrupt candidates for the Supreme Court.

To ensure that Supreme Court selection is not manipulated and the court is cleaned of tainted judges, there must be proper safeguards. These are to be established by the new High Qualification Commission of Judges.