Ukrainians Can Initiate Checks of Judges' Declarations: What Opportunities the New Law Provides

Any citizen of Ukraine, even if they are not a participant in a court case but have information that a judge has indicated false information in their integrity declaration, has the right to apply to the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ).

To do this, it is necessary to provide appropriate justification, supporting materials, or documents so that the HQCJ can verify this information. After that, the corresponding legal procedure begins.

This was emphasized by the Committee on Legal Policy when commenting on the Law on Improving Judges' Integrity Declarations and Their Family Relations 4905-IX, which recently came into force.

If the HQCJ concludes that the appeal is justified, it will request the necessary information from the judge and other bodies and conduct an investigation.

The investigation may concern various circumstances, including:

• concealment or submission of false information regarding property;
• visiting temporarily occupied territories;
• public statements that may indicate non-recognition of Ukraine’s state sovereignty;
• other violations of integrity requirements.

The Verkhovna Rada notes that mechanisms of public control over judges in Ukraine are among the broadest. Citizens can use information from open sources or media and appeal to the relevant bodies demanding verification of possible violations.

If it is established that a judge submitted false information, this may have legal consequences. This includes possible disciplinary liability and, in some cases, dismissal from office.

For example, property issues, around which various corruption risks most often arise. In Ukraine, these are checked within six different procedures that partially overlap — within the verification of a judge’s property declaration, qualification assessment, competitions for judicial positions, disciplinary procedures, criminal proceedings, and integrity declaration checks.

In each of these procedures, any citizen of Ukraine can file a complaint or statement regarding any judge. This is the mechanism of public control.

At the same time, the Committee noted that this Law should not complicate the main function of the High Qualification Commission of Judges — the selection of judges.

That is, if relevant complaints about judges are received, they must be as well-founded as possible so that this does not turn into a tool for spam or pressure on judges.

And if violations in the activities of individual judges or facts of submitting false information are found, the HQCJ should conduct the investigation in compliance with all procedures provided by the Law. And if someone committed a violation, they should be held accountable fairly and punished accordingly.

As noted by "Judicial-Legal Newspaper", instead of several different reports, judges will submit one integrated declaration. Reporting will be completed electronically on the official website of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) annually by May 1.

It will consist of a clear list of statements where one must choose "confirm" or "do not confirm," and detailed information about relatives.

The HQCJ receives the authority to conduct checks based on information from any person that reasonably indicates the inaccuracy of the data.

The investigation may be initiated no later than three years from the date of submission of the declaration.

If the information about inaccuracy is confirmed, the materials are transferred to the disciplinary proceedings body (the High Council of Justice).

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