KYIV (Reuters) -The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday approved a draft law that would re-establish a special commission on appointing judges,
and lawmakers said the law’s wording was in line with the suggestions of Western donors.
The commission vets prospective judges to make sure they are respectable citizens and qualified to do their jobs, but its work was suspended by a Constitutional Court ruling in 2019.
Ukraine’s foreign allies wanted their representatives to be involved in the re-establishing of the commission to ensure the process was transparent and honest. They also wanted their representatives to have the deciding vote on the panel against candidates they thought were unsuitable, which the original draft did not include.
During the second, final, reading, parliament approved an amendment to the bill that gives international experts a deciding vote in the selection of candidates for the qualification commission.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Jon Boyle and Chizu Nomiyama)
