Competition to SBI Public Control Board: Interview with Commission Chair

“I feel a great responsibility for the future composition of the Council, and all the members of the selection committee seem to be interested in the quality of its formation,” – said Volodymyr Suschenko, chair of the committee for the selection of members of the Public Control Board at the State Bureau of Investigation.

Volodymyr Sushchenko is the chair of the board of the NGO “Expert Center for Human Rights”, scientific consultant on legal issues of the Razumkov Center, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine and expert of the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program since its inception.

Mr. Suschenko acknowledges that he has agreed to head the commission in order to select a quality membership of the Public Control Board.

The Commission has extended the submission deadline until April 6. Therefore, Mr. Suschenko calls on the legal community to be active and submit applications for the competition.

“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” spoke with Volodymyr Sushchenko about the terms of the competition and the importance of public involvement in the work of state and law enforcement agencies.

On March 19, it was reported that only 13 people had submitted documents to participate in the competition, while the Council should consist of 15. How many candidates should be submitted for the competition to take place?

– The selection board should pick 30 candidates from the total number of applicants who submit applications and documents to participate in the competition. This is envisaged by the Order of Formation of the Public Control Board under the State Bureau of Investigation, approved by the Presidential Decree (dated February 5, 2020 – ed.).

Of course, the more candidates apply the better for the commission – we will have the opportunity to shortlist 30 candidates and select final 15 thereof.

As of March 24, 21 participants have submitted their documents.

Full text of the interview is available at the Ukrainian web-page.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the position 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.

“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” is a powerful network of lawyers uniting opinion leaders in the legal profession, who provide legal assistance in accordance with the highest ethical standards, act as agents of change in society and leaders in the professional community.

The “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program was launched in 2016 and first implemented within the “Quality and Accessible Legal Aid” Project, carried out by the Canadian Bureau for International Education with the support of the Government of Canada in cooperation with the Legal Aid Coordination Centre. It is currently being implemented and developed with the support of the US Embassy’s Law Enforcement Section in Ukraine, the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” NGO, in partnership with the Ukrainian Bar Association and the Bar Association of Legal Aid Providers.