“The Simple Fact that Judges Appeal Against HQCJ is an Important Step Towards Shaping the Practice of Protection of Judges”, – Yulia Chervatyuk

Unless the judges enjoy guarantees for independent and safe work environment, we should not expect the increase in the level of citizens’ access to justice. This was stated by the graduate of the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program Yulia Chervatyuk, commenting on the decision of the Supreme Court on the case on discrimination of judges.

On October 9, the Supreme Court found it illegal and cancelled the decision of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, which granted the right to participate in the competition for the court transfer only to judges who have completed the qualification evaluation. Yulia Chervatyuk was one of the lawyers who defended the rights of judges. We have already covered this news on our web site – please see the release dated October 9.

“If judges do not have guarantees for the independent and safe activity, we shouldn’t count upon increasing the citizens’ access to justice. The very fact of appealing against the HQCJ decision is a major step towards forming a practice for the protection of judges and the return of proper guarantees for their activities. The Supreme Court in its ruling confirmed the blatant fact of arbitrariness against the judges, which should be addressed immediately and measures taken to eliminate it,”– Yulia said.

According to her, in its decision the Supreme Court found that the HQCJ had placed in unequal conditions persons with the same status of a judge. This constitutes violation of Article 24 of the Constitution (citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law), as well as the Laws of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and Status of Judges” and “On the Principles of Prevention and Countering Discrimination in Ukraine”.

“In fact, the court found discriminatory treatment of judges and stood up for human dignity and equal opportunity to choose a profession and type of work,” – she said, adding that such judgment could become a precedent to eliminate discrimination.

According to Yulia, the activities of bodies such as the HQCJ should be subject to anti-discrimination expertise, as provided for by the Cabinet of Ministers Decree on Self-Government Bodies. Abuse of the discretionary powers conferred on the commission can lead to unlawful, discriminatory decisions.

As the lawyer noted, it is essential to raise awareness of lawyers on  anti-discrimination issues. As discrimination may not always be a violation of rights, but it can be applied on the assumptions, which leads to the restriction of a person in the recognition, exercise or enjoyment of rights and freedoms (Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of Prevention and Counteracting Discrimination in Ukraine”).

Most importantly, “lawyers and human rights activists today need to stand up for justice in Ukraine. By uniting all our capabilities and resources, such as in this business we conducted pro-bono (free of charge in the public interest).”

The full text of the Supreme Court’s decision in the anti-discrimination case is available by the link.

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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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