RJRC representatives commented on draft Strategy for Sustainable Development of Judiciary for 2021-2025

In January 2021 Interregional Working Group of Regional Justice Reform Councils analyzed the draft Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Judiciary for 2021-2025.

The working group included specialized lawyers from six regions of Ukraine, in particular, judges, advocates and academia. The comments and proposals drafted as a result of the exercise undertaken were submitted to the Legal Reform Commission under the Presidential Office of Ukraine.

Among other things, RJRC members noted the following:

• RJRC members consider that the term ‘judiciary’ (judicial power) instead of ‘judicial system’ should be used in the name of the Strategy as provided by the Constitution, the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges".
• It is necessary to set out in detail the statement that the justice system and the judiciary is inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine. According to the representatives of the RJRC, the use of general phrases without mentioning specific aspects of such inconsistencies can undermine the authority of the judiciary and does not provide clear and understandable directions for its reform.
• Some statements of the Strategy are vague or contradictory. In particular, the document raises questions about the indicators that were taken into account when assessing the performance of the judiciary. Thus, according to members of the RJRC, issues related to courts' performance are more related to staff shortage, lack of transparent efficiency indicators and regulatory framework for determining the number and location of courts.
• Some provisions of the Strategy are not currently relevant, in particular regarding the establishment of new specialized courts. All categories of cases are successfully considered by current courts within the existing specializations. In addition, this will lead to an additional significant burden on the State Budget of Ukraine, which, given today's inadequate funding of the judiciary, is even more irrational.
• Large-scale digitalization of court services is a requirement of today. The strategy does not set out priorities and markers as to digitizing justice and simplifying access to justice.

We offer a detailed description of the comments in the following document: Proposals of the Interregional Working Group of the Regional Justice Reform Councils to the Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Judiciary for 2021-2025

Background:

Regional Justice Reform Councils (RJRCs) have been created with support of the EU Project "Pravo-Justice" and function in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa regions and Donbas. To date, Councils members have been actively participating in drafting a bill on mediation, amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, proposals to improve legislation on enforcement proceedings, introducing e-court and discussing the concept of transitional justice.

RJRCs act as permanent working groups to promote bottom-up reforms: bringing region-specific challenges and potential solutions thereof to the level of the central government.