Presidential decree #359/2023 of June 30, 2023 

Decision-maker: the President of Ukraine 

Status: in effect since June 30, 2023 

Who is affected: the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Supreme Council of Justice, judges, and courts 

Summary of the decree: 

  • enacts the decision by the National Security and Defense Council calling on the legislators to amend: 
    • the Criminal Code of Ukraine to strengthen penalties for corruption criminal offenses committed by the judiciary. In particular, to provision imprisonment from 10 to 15 years and confiscation of property for such offenses 
    • the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine to strengthen the role of the jury. In particular, to introduce jury trials for a wider variety of court cases 
    • the laws of Ukraine On the Judicial System and Status of Judges and On the Supreme Council of Justice: 

a) to oblige the Supreme Council of Justice to check all judges of the Supreme Court for possible disciplinary misconduct and gross or systemic neglect of judicial duties, verify the legality of their sources of income

b) to improve the procedure for the selection of judges of the Supreme Court to the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court and introduce a mechanism that will allow recalling these judges by meetings of judges of the respective appellate courts

c) to introduce checks for possible disciplinary misconduct and gross or systemic neglect of judicial duties and verification of the legality of sources of income of all judges of a particular court by the decision of the Supreme Council of Justice if one of the judges of this court was charged with a corruption offense

d) to review and adjust the procedure for holding judges accountable for disciplinary misconduct

e) to make the qualification assessment of judges effective and transparent

f) to introduce regular psychophysiological reviews of judges conducted using a lie detector

g) to introduce psychophysiological reviews conducted using a lie detector as a prerequisite for the selection of candidates for the position of a local court judge, competition for a vacant position of an appellate court judge, higher specialized court judge, and judge of the Supreme Court

h) to adopt fair and transparent rules and procedures for considering ethical violations by members of the Supreme Council of Justice

  • recommends that the Verkhovna Rada speed up the adoption of the draft bill on the resumption of disciplinary proceedings against judges and the facilitation of the work of the disciplinary inspectors of the Supreme Council of Justice (draft bill #9261) 
  • calls on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt the draft bill clarifying the provisions on the competitive selection of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (draft bill #9322) 
  • orders the Cabinet of Ministers to prepare the concept of further reform of the Constitutional Court in cooperation with the Venice Commission. 

What is wrong: 

  • the bill is unconstitutional since the President cannot give orders to either the Cabinet of Ministers or the Verkhovna Rada. The President’s mandate is limited to the powers defined in the Constitution. Thus, he can issue decrees only on issues under his authority 
  • the bill disrupts the balance of power. 

Additional information: MPs from the Servant of the People faction have already submitted a draft bill (on June 29) strengthening penalties for corruption criminal offenses committed by the judiciary, and on July 3 — a draft bill introducing additional procedures to strengthen the public trust in the judiciary.