KYIV. March 24 (Interfax) - Ukraine's deputy presidential chief of staff Oleksiy Filatov said the Venice Commission's recommendations concerning laws regulating the Ukrainian judiciary system will be taken unto account as constitutional amendments are being drafted.
"We thank Venice Commission experts for understanding the urgency of the Ukrainian judiciary reform and for providing recommendations concerning the Law on the Right to a Fair Trial so quickly. We will take these recommendations into account as work continues to amend the constitution and to adjust the judiciary system to European standards," the presidential press service quoted Filatov as saying on Monday.
The press service also said that the Venice Commission on March 20 discussed the Ukrainian law on lustration, as well as the most recent legislative amendments connected with the judiciary reform.
The Venice Commission also supported plans to perfect the procedure of forming the Supreme Justice Council and appointing judges, which introduces "solid guarantees for preventing favoritism, nepotism and corruption," he said.
Experts of the Venice Commission said with good reason that some of the essential issues remain unsolved and demand a solution, primarily by amending the constitution, he said. These include the Verkhovna Rada's exclusion from the procedure of appointing judges to an indefinite term, as well, as their dismissal; changing the Supreme Justice Council in a way that would authorize judges to elect most of the Justice Council judges; renunciation of the Verkhovna Rada's powers to lift judicial immunity and the exclusion from the constitution of the provision authorizing president to set up and disband courts, something that must be regulated by the law.
The Venice Commission also said that provisions regulating judges' transfer to other courts without competition, and the use of languages in trials should be perfected. It said that while a procedure should be introduced for assessing the judges' professionalism, the principle of judges' independence should be observed and the consequences of the judges' failure to pass this procedure should comply with the European standards.
The Venice Commission welcomed the Ukrainian president's decision to form a constitutional commission for drafting constitutional amendments, and expressed readiness to provide further support to the Ukrainian leadership in perfecting the laws and the constitutional principles pertaining to the judiciary system and the status of judges.