OREANDA-NEWS. March 24, 2015. The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) discussed the issue of Ukraine's legislation on lustration and recent legislative amendments on judicial reform.

The Venice Commission experts have positively evaluated the recently adopted Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Right to Fair Trial".

Particularly, the experts noted: "In general, the law is logical and well-built. It follows the previous recommendations of the Venice Commission on many issues. Strengthening the role of the Supreme Court as the guarantor of unity of judicial practice, the emphasis on formal role of the President in the appointment of judges to the initial term, the introduction of a list of grounds for liability for the "violation of the oath" to exclude the excessively broad discretion of disciplinary bodies, introduction of a scale of sanctions regarding disciplinary liability, which allows imposing penalties in proportion, and detailed provisions on qualification evaluation of judges before the appointment without term limitations or promotion are examples of positive developments in the law".

Also, the experts have praised the improvement in the order of forming the Supreme Council of Justice and the procedure of the appointment of judges, which introduces "good safeguards to prevent favoritism, nepotism and corruption".

At the same time, the Venice Commission experts emphasize that a series of important issues must be solved through the amendments to the Constitution:

- exclusion of the role of Verkhovna Rada from the process of the appointment of judges without term limitations and dismissal of judges;

- change in the composition of the Supreme Council of Justice – part or majority of members must be judges elected by judges;

- abolition of Verkhovna Rada's powers in the removal of judicial immunity;

- exclusion of the President's authorities to form or eliminate courts from the Constitution. This issue should rather be decided by law.

Also, the Venice Commission experts have noted that provisions on the transfer of judges without a contest in case of re-organization or liquidation of courts and the use of languages in judicial process can be improved. They have agreed that there were grounds to introduce a procedure of qualification evaluation of judges, but it is necessary to comply with the principle of courts' independence in this matter. Consequences of failure to pass this procedure should also meet the European standards.

The Venice Commission experts have praised the establishment of the Constitutional Commission by the Ukrainian President and expressed willingness to further assist the Ukrainian government in the improvement of legislation on judiciary and status of judges.

Commenting on the conclusions of the Venice Commission, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration and Coordinator of the Council on Judicial Reform Oleksiy Filatov has noted: "We are grateful to the Venice Commission experts for considering the urgency of changes in the Ukrainian judicial system and providing the conclusions on the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Right to Fair Trial" in such a short term. We will take into account these recommendations while elaborating amendments to the Constitution and reforming the judicial system for it to meet the European standards".