The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, signed the bill No. 7662 adopted by the parliament on "Improving the procedure for selecting candidates for the post of judge of the Constitutional Court", despite the fact that this version was criticized by public experts and it contradicts the updated conclusion of the Venice Commission.
According to the map of the draft law on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, it was returned on December 20 with the signature of the president.
It will be recalled that on December 13, the parliamentary majority supported draft law No. 7662 on "Improving the procedure for selecting candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court", but without correcting the number of members of the DGE, aimed at the effectiveness of independent selection of judges. Earlier, experts in the field of judicial reform warned that this could make the Constitutional Court under the control of the authorities, and asked the parliament not to adopt the law in this form, and after its adoption, they called on Zelenskyi to promise it.
On December 19, the Venice Commission published an updated opinion on draft law No. 7662, recommending that it be changed in the version supported by public experts in the field of judicial reform.
At the end, it is indicated that one more, seventh, member from among independent international experts should be included in the Consultative Group of Experts (KDE), which will check the candidates for the KSU. In addition, the decisions of the KDE must be binding, that is, a candidate who has not passed the examination cannot under any circumstances be appointed a judge of the KSU.
The draft law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada so far provides for six members of the KDE, three of whom are independent experts, and the rest are appointed by the president, the Verkhovna Rada and the Congress of Judges, and without the vote of the latter, no decision can be made. Public experts note that the 7th independent expert would allow to level the political influence on the commission.
The draft law on the KSU is one of those on which the further movement of Ukraine towards EU membership depends.
