Draft bill #9343 of May 30, 2023 

Cosponsors: a group of 5 MPs 

Who is affected: judges, judicial self-government bodies, law enforcement agencies, and the Pension Fund 

Summary of the bill: 

  • the High Council of Justice will not consider resignation from a judge if there are ongoing disciplinary proceedings that can result in the dismissal of the judge for the following reasons: 
    • compliance violations 
    • severe disciplinary offenses, gross or systematic neglect of duties 
    • inability to prove the legality of assets owned by the judge 
  • judges suspected or accused of committing an intentional crime will not get their monthly payments. The Prosecutor General/his or her deputy will be obliged to inform the Pension Fund about cases opened against judges within three days. Judges found guilty of the crimes in question will lose the right to lifetime financial bonuses 
  • judges suspected or accused of committing an intentional crime will not get their retirement payments 
  • with proper justification, members of the High Council of Justice will be able to launch disciplinary proceedings against judges 
  • information about disciplinary proceedings against judges and the status of these proceedings, names of the HCJ members and the disciplinary inspector who participated in the proceedings will be published for general and unrestricted access on the HCJ website no later than the day following the start of proceedings. 

What is right: 

  • the aim of the bill is to protect the reputation of the judiciary. More than half of Ukrainians do not trust the judiciary, there is a serious issue with public trust in courts and judges 
  • the bill is an attempt to reduce social tension. Society demonstrates a strong negative reaction to every crime involving a judge. The degree of conflict and mistrust between society and the courts is increasing, and this may lead to open confrontations in the future. 

What is wrong: sanctions proposed by the bill can be abused by the law enforcement agencies as leverage against the judiciary. Criminal charges can be pressed against judges in order to strip them of financial benefits right before or even after their resignation. Such cases may last for years, and the judge will not receive payments guaranteed by the state during this period.