Supreme Court Recognizes Discriminatory Competition for the Transfer of Judges
On October 9, the Administrative Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court sustained a claim of a group of judges of local courts who considered discriminatory competitions for the transfer of judges available only to those judges who passed qualification examination. Their interests represented lawyers Oksana Guz and Yulia Chervatyuk.
Yulia is a graduate of the first season of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program, a lawyer, human rights activist, and anti-discrimination expert.
“The Supreme Court sustained a claim on discrimination (those wishing to participate in a competition for the transfer of judges – ed.), despite the cancellation of the contest by the High Qualification Commission of Judges yesterday. This is very important as our opponents filed a claim to close the case due to cancellation of the competition” – comments the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Yulia Chervatyuk.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine lacks decisions acknowledging discrimination. I hope this decision becomes a precedent as it shows that discrimination concerns not only vulnerable groups – anyone can be harmed,”– Yulia added.
Earlier, the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” reported that the claim was filed by eight judges. They appealed against the competition announced on August 1, according to which judges who haven’t completed the qualification examination or ending 5-year term of service, were not eligible to take part in competition for the transfer to another court.
It should be noted that on the eve of the decision of the Administrative Court of Cassation, the High Qualifications Commission of Judges canceled a competition for the transfer of judges to 220 vacant posts in local courts. As much as 249 judges expressed their desire to participate in the competition.
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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program, the Ukrainian Bar Association, the Bar Association of Legal Aid Providers, the Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine Project, the Canadian Bureau for International Education, or the Government of Canada and the Law Enforcement Section of the United States Embassy in Ukraine.
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