Ukraine’s congress of judges elects all 8 members of High Council of Justice

This is stated on the web portal of the Council of Judges of Ukraine.

"The delegates of the XIX Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine elected all 8 members of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) under the quota from the judicial community. The last representative of the HCJ from the Congress of Judges was Serhii Burlakov, who was elected in the second round of secret voting. He is a judge of the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court," the statement reads.

In total, 16 candidates for the position of a member of the HCJ were included in the ballot, which were divided according to the quota principle. The members of the High Council of Justice from the Congress of Judges of Ukraine are:

• Alla Kotelevets - judge of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal;
• Hryhoriy Usyk - judge of the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court;
• Oleksandr Sasevych - judge of the Lviv District Administrative Court;
• Yulia Bokova - judge of the Economic Court of Donetsk region;
• Olha Popikova - judge of the Northern Economic Court of Appeal.

Later, the Council of Judges elected three more members of the HCJ: Tetiana Bondarenko - judge of Mykolaiv Court of Appeal and Olena Kovbiy - judge of Kherson District Administrative Court. Also, Serhii Burlakov, judge of the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court, will join the HCJ.

The Council of Judges emphasized that the election of candidates from the Congress of Judges of Ukraine will unblock the work of the High Council of Justice and restore its institutional capacity to make decisions, since with the newly elected members, the HCJ will have 15 members, which is the necessary quorum for the work of the collective body.

All newly elected members of the High Council of Justice have taken the oath and will work in the judicial governance body for the next 4 years.

However, according to the analysis conducted by DEJURE Foundation, Anti-Corruption Action Center and Automaidan, there are doubts about the integrity of all newly elected HCJ members.

• Earlier, in December 2022, G7 ambassadors reminded that justice reform is one of the key conditions for Ukraine's movement towards the EU.