President on the reform of the system of justice: People have nowhere to find justice. We must change that together

President Petro Poroshenko underlines the importance of constitutional amendments on judicial reform, because the introduction of fair trial is an issue, which concerns every citizen. “Fair trial is a special and very sensitive issue, for justice concerns every Ukrainian, every one of us. And a court is the place where we will look for justice and struggle for it,” the President said at the meeting with students and lecturers of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

According to the President, people have nowhere to find justice now. “We must change that together,” the President addressed the attendees.

The Head of State analyzed in details the amendments to the Constitution regarding the reform of justice that are undergoing final discussion after the conclusion of the Venice Commission. “Constitutional amendments are an extremely important and essential step on the reformation of the system of justice. It is a foundation for transparent, bright and comfortable palace of justice for Ukrainian citizens,” the President said.

The President informed that he would shortly finalize the draft constitutional amendments and submit them for consideration by the Parliament. “At the beginning of the next week, we will consider them at the National Council of Reforms, make final conclusions and submit them to the Parliament in a week,” he noted.

The Head of State highlighted the necessity of maximum consolidation of all coalition factions, people’s deputies, expert community and judicial corps “for the development of this reform”.

“The approach to the reform must be legal and well-planned. One cannot achieve fair trial in an unfair way. We have no right to mistake,” the Head of State stressed.

According to the President, a series of regulations that do not meet the European standards are still enshrined in the Constitution. “Changes should concern depoliticization, increase the independence of judicial power and create a new system of judges’ selection based on their professionalism, ethical standards and compliance with the anti-corruption legislation. These are very important components. It will be difficult to move forward without them,” Petro Poroshenko said.

The Head of State emphasized that the Venice Commission had approved that project twice. The last approval reads: “The new version of constitutional amendments is very positive, well-prepared and deserves full support”.

The President emphasized that new game rules and mechanisms of renewal of judicial corps were the main components of the draft constitutional amendments. According to him, a judge should be protected from politicians and bribes. “If we ensure this protection, everything else will depend on the judge,” Petro Poroshenko stressed.

“Court independence is our goal. Judicial power of a European country should stay beyond the control of legislative or executive power,” the President said.

The President emphasized that the strengthening of courts must be held simultaneously with purification and renewal of judicial corps. “Under the amendments, a judge must bear responsibility for substantial misconduct or gross and systematic neglect of his duties, which is totally incompatible with the status of judges,” the Head of State noted.

According to him, all judges must have proper level of competence, professional ethics and virtue. “All other judges must be fired. It is fair. However, professional and non-corrupt judges should stay and continue working with an absolutely different level of social trust,” Petro Poroshenko emphasized.

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