Zelensky brings ambassadors and judges together on reform

President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling the
ambassadors of the G7 countries, judges, and MPs for a meeting on Sept. 16. The
meeting will include the Chairman of the Council of Judges, president.gov.ua
announced on Sept. 13. The meeting will focus on the failure of the Council of
Judges to elect three judges to be members of the Ethics Council.

The announcement includes a statement from Zelensky
that the failure of the Council of Judges was essentially derailing his
promised reform process “…due to the suspension of the most important part –
the cleaning of the judicial system.”

The Ethics Council is an entity that should check
whether all candidates and members of the High Council of Justice, the highest
body in the judiciary branch of power, correspond to criteria for professional
ethics and integrity.

James Hydzik: At first glance, calling in the ambassadors of the G7 countries makes
it look as if Zelensky can’t do the job on his own. However, there is the issue
of the three other members of the Ethics Council, who are nominated by
Ukraine’s allies and selected by the government. In this light, having the G7
countries’ ambassadors present might be the most efficient way of bringing that
contingent into one place. Will the judges present at the meeting care about
any of this? With the presidential administration, Verkhovna Rada and foreign
representatives all pressuring them to act, the judges might have to care by
the time the meeting’s done.