Constitutional Court recognizes as constitutional bill proposing to appoint judges for life, prosecutor general for indefinite term
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the European integration bill making amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine to strengthen the guarantees of the independence of judges, which was proposed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, corresponds to the respective provisions of Articles 157 and 158 of the country's main law.
This is stated in the court's conclusion, which was adopted on September 19 and made public on Tuesday.
As reported, on September 5, the Verkhovna Rada voted to send to the Constitutional Court the amendments to the Constitution proposed by President Yanukovych that deal with strengthening the guarantees of the independence of judges.
This document is among the package of laws that need to be adopted to enable the signing of the Ukraine's Association Agreement with the European Union.
The bill proposes amending the procedure for the appointment and dismissal of judges. According to the document, a judge of a court of general jurisdiction should be appointed to this post by the president of Ukraine without a term limit, while at present judges are appointed for five years. At the same time, the president will decide on appointing or dismissing a judge only following a relevant request from the High Council of Justice.
If the bill is adopted, judges of courts of general jurisdiction, who were earlier appointed for a five-year term, will be able to serve indefinitely.
The bill also suggests excluding from the Constitution a provision establishing the term of office for the prosecutor general of Ukraine.
The document proposes entrusting the Supreme Court of Ukraine with ensuring the uniform application of Ukraine's legislation by all courts of general jurisdiction. It also suggests that consent to the detention or arrest of a judge should be given by the High Council of Justice at the request of the High Qualification Commission of Judges.
The presidential bill also proposed changing the procedure for the dismissal of judges of the Constitutional Court in connection with the termination of their term of office. It is also proposed to raise the ceiling age for judges of the Constitutional Court to 65 years.
In addition, the bill suggests including a provision into the Constitution, which says that a judge may be transferred to another court only with their consent, and a transfer to a higher court should be carried out only on a competitive basis.
The bill also suggests amending the provision of the Constitution relating to the powers and composition of the High Council of Justice. In particular, it proposed establishing that 12 of the 20 members of the High Council of Justice will be judges appointed by the Congress of Judges of Ukraine. The Congress of Lawyers and the Congress of Representatives of Law Colleges and Research Institutions will each appoint two members of the High Council of Justice. In addition, the composition of the High Council of Justice will include the chairman of the Constitutional Court, the chairman of the Supreme Court, the chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine and the prosecutor general. At the same time, the prosecutor general will not take part in voting and in decision-making by the High Council of Justice.
