The Venice Commission confirmed the risks of removing judges, which the BCU had warned about

The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe warned Ukraine about the risk of abuse associated with the possibility of temporarily suspending a judge during disciplinary proceedings.

The European institutions examined draft laws No. 13137, No. 13137-1, and No. 13165-2 on amendments to the Law «On the judicial system and status of judges» and other legislative acts concerning the improvement of disciplinary procedures and declarations of integrity of judges and family ties of judges, and adopted a joint conclusion No. CDL-AD(2025)044 as a result of their analysis.

According to the proposed amendments, a judge may be temporarily suspended during disciplinary proceedings for up to two months, with the possibility of extension for another two months.

Earlier, the President of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, the Bar Council of Ukraine Lidiya Izovitova warned the Venice Commission and the DGI about the dangerous consequences of such changes during consultations.

In particular, she voiced the position of BCU that, according to the drafts, the mechanisms of criminal proceedings are unjustifiably transferred to disciplinary proceedings, where there are no risks to society a priori. It also creates a basis for manipulation, where disciplinary complaints can be used to remove «inconvenient» judges, creating an atmosphere of fear among judges. On these grounds, the bar self-government body concluded that the changes are conceptually unjustified and systemically dangerous for independent justice. Therefore, the application of repressive measures to a judge even before the fact of a violation has been established is contrary to the presumption of innocence and the principle of proportionality. Such changes transform the legal system from an instrument of justice into a mechanism of control.

In their conclusion, the Venice Commission and the DGI drew attention to the shortcomings of the drafts, in particular the duplication of regulations, and recommended harmonizing the rules on temporary suspension in various laws, as well as within the Law «On the High Council of Justice».

European institutions also warned of the risk of abuse during the temporary suspension of a judge. «Such a measure could be used improperly, even to change the composition of the court that is to hear the case, - the conclusion states. - Therefore, given the risk of misuse, the Venice Commission and the DGI do not recommend introducing this procedure in the form in which it is proposed in the draft amendments».