Vitalii Gatseliuk, a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, took part in the study visit “Independence of the Judiciary”, which took place from August 28 to September 2, 2023, in the cities of Hanover, Braunschweig, and Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, with the support of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ). The event was also attended by representatives of the legal community and the judiciary of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.

The Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov welcomed the participants, noting that the PIC plays a key role in cleansing the judiciary and ensuring its integrity. In cooperation with civil society representatives, the HQCJ is able to achieve the best results in providing the justice system with personnel who meet high professional and moral standards.

“I hope we will not have any conflicts and will resolve the issues under discussion in a civilized manner,” said Chairman Roman Ihnatov to the PIC members.

On August 31, 2023, a consultation meeting was held between the Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov, and the Deputy Chairman of the Commission Ruslan Sydorovych with the Head of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) at the Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Pavlo Pushkar, and the Manager of the Council of Europe Project “Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine” Iryna Kushnir.

On August 29, 2023, the Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Roman Ihnatov met with the Leading Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law Specialist of the Department of Democracy and Governance at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission to Ukraine Jay Totte.

On August 25–26, 2023, the USAID Justice for All Program conducted a training on “Assessment of Financial Integrity of Judges and Candidates for the Position of a Judge” for the members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in Kyiv.   

On August 24, 2023, the Chairman of the Commission Roman Ihnatov met online with the representatives of the EU Delegation to Ukraine and the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project.

The purpose of the event was to discuss work priorities and confirm the intention to continue cooperation between the Commission and the EU Delegation to Ukraine. 

On August 14, 2023, a meeting of representatives of public associations was held at the premises of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, where 20 members of the Public Integrity Council were elected.

The meeting was attended by public associations that were determined by the Commission to meet the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges”.

Member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine Vitalii Gatseliuk participated in the XI Summer School on Constitutional Law “Rule of Law and Constitutionalism”, which took place on August 6-13, 2023 in the village of Polyana, Zakarpattia region. The event is traditionally held in cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

At the meeting of the Second Chamber of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine held on August 2, 2023, the issue of submitting a recommendation to second judges to another court of the same level and specialization for the administration of justice, as well as early termination of the judges’ secondment, was considered.

On July 27, 2023, at the meeting of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the issue of compliance of public associations that submitted documents to the Commission with the requirements for participation in the meeting of representatives of public associations to establish the Public Integrity Council was considered.