Presidential decree #139/2024 of February 29, 2024 

Decision-maker: the President of Ukraine 

Status: in effect since February 29, 2024 

Who is affected: judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), citizens aspiring to become a CCU judge, and members of the committee for the selection of CCU judges 

Summary: 

  • the decree approved the provision on the competitive selection of judges of the Constitutional Court under the quota of the President of Ukraine. The provision establishes the selection committee and approves its personal composition 
  • the committee will operate in accordance with the following principles: 
    • members of the selection committee participate in its work in person and voluntarily 
    • the chair and secretary of the committee are elected among its members at the first meeting 
    • committee meetings are held offline or in a video conference format via electronic communication tools 
    • the selection committee makes its decisions via open voting. For a decision to be approved, a simple majority of the full composition of committee members has to support it 
    • information regarding the start of the competitive selection, meetings of the committee, and decisions made by it is published on the official website of the President of Ukraine 
    • the selection committee publishes the documents submitted by the candidates and the decisions regarding their admission (or refusal of admission) to the competitive selection on the website of the President of Ukraine 
    • individuals, as well as public associations, have the right to send information and materials to the selection committee regarding the suitability or unfitness of candidates for the position of a CCU judge after the announcement of their admission to the competition 
    • within three days after the decision to admit candidates to the position of a CCU judge to the selection, the committee sends copies of the documents submitted by the candidates to the Expert Advisory Group, which will evaluate the integrity and professional competence of candidates 
    • based on the results of the examination of the information provided by the candidates, conclusions of the Expert Advisory Group, and interviews, the selection committee decides on who to recommend to the President of Ukraine for appointment to the position of a CCU judge 

What is right: 

The decree introduced regulations on the issues of competitive selection of CCU judges under the President’s quota. 

Background information: 

On December 13, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law changing the procedure for the competitive selection of candidates for positions of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.