Former CC Member Proposes Reforms for Judicial System Rehabilitation

The resigned former member of the Court of Cassation, Sergey Meghryan, has presented proposals for the rehabilitation of the judicial system. In this regard, he wrote on his Facebook page:

“Vettings alone are not the solution to all the problems of the judicial authority. Alongside the ‘cleansing’ of the judicial system, it is at least necessary to address the following issues:

1. The number of judges at all levels of courts should be doubled to significantly reduce their unreasonable workload. Simultaneously, clear normative standards regarding judges' workload should be developed, which would exclude the assignment of new cases to judges who are fully loaded.
2. It is necessary to at least double the salary of judges and the staff working in the Judicial Department to make public service in the judicial system financially attractive and ensure a flow of fresh and qualified personnel.
3. A fair and uninterrupted mechanism for judicial review should be guaranteed through improvements to procedural legislation and various other measures, which will fully ensure the rectification of possible judicial errors.
4. An administrative chamber should be established in the Court of Cassation, along with mechanisms to exclude contradictory legal positions by civil and administrative chambers.
5. A two-tier system of anti-corruption courts should be created, allowing anti-corruption cases to be examined collegially in the first instance.
6. A necessary digital hub for data should be created as soon as possible, implementing digitized systems for electronic justice, judicial case management, and continuous monitoring of justice.
7. The procedure for decision-making by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) must be made transparent to the public, introducing an open voting procedure to ensure individual accountability of Council members regarding their votes on crucial issues and to exclude the issuance of decisions without apparent reason or the “sham” failure of major initiatives.
8. Mechanisms for appealing or reviewing the clearly defined decisions of the SJC should be developed and implemented.
9. The powers of the General Assembly of Judges should be expanded and clarified, assigning it the right to veto Council decisions on specific matters related to the normal functioning of the courts by a qualified majority of the total number of judges.
10. It would be advisable to restore the Council of Court Presidents, granting it the status of an advisory body to the Council. The absence of such a body creates a gap between the Council and the judicial corps.
11. Furthermore, all Council members should be required to participate in the General Assemblies of Judges and to report to the Assembly on certain issues.
12. The grounds for judges’ disciplinary liability should be reviewed and clarified, excluding violations of material law norms from their composition and expanding and clarifying the scope of behavioral rules.
13. The Council should be granted authority to establish rules of judicial discipline and oversee their implementation.
14. The Council should have the authority to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges based on separate grounds (including at the request of the Anti-Corruption Committee).
15. The work of the disciplinary committee should be made visible to the public, increasing the accountability of the committee and providing an additional remuneration system for members of the committees of the General Assembly of Judges.
16. The General Assembly and the Council should be allowed to raise issues regarding the early termination of the powers of members of the committees of the General Assembly.
17. The Council should have the opportunity to prematurely terminate the powers of poorly performing court presidents and organize new elections.
18. The requirements for candidates for the positions of presidents of courts and the Court of Cassation should be reviewed, eliminating baseless limitations.
19. Clear legal consequences should be established for inadequate performance evaluations of judges, also reviewing the evaluation criteria.
20. The authority to evaluate should rightly be reserved for an evaluation committee formed by the General Assembly of Judges, which could include academic lawyers and representatives of NGOs. A well-developed evaluation system can ensure the lawful “permanent vetting” of judges. The Council can act as the body examining complaints regarding the evaluation results.
21. The procedures for filling vacant positions of judges should be reviewed, allowing the possibility of conducting competitions for vacant positions and compiling lists of candidates.
22. Effective measures aimed at reducing the costs of justice should be implemented, including excluding the possibility of unnecessary appeals against judicial acts by state and local self-government bodies.
23. The building and material-technical conditions of the courts should be improved, and the procurement procedures for state purchases for the courts need to be refined to eliminate factors leading to the acquisition of poor-quality products.
24. The current training system for judges should be fundamentally revised to significantly enhance its effectiveness.
25. The Council should be granted the right to legislative initiative on issues related to the organization of the judicial authority and procedural matters.
26. The mandates of the members of the SJC should be suspended for the entire term of their appointment as SJC members.
27. A system ensuring the transparency of case assignments should be implemented.
28. With the involvement of serious scientific expertise, the following decisions of the SJC should be developed and adopted regarding:
• The rules of court administration.
• The procedure and methodology for evaluating judges’ performance.
• The indicative timeframes for examining cases according to their different types and complexity.
• Indicators of reasonable workload for judges.

If we want to have truly independent, qualified, and effective justice, the listed measures must be implemented within the next 1-2 years. If there is sufficient political will, all the mentioned problems are solvable.”