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Chapter 13. CERTIFICATION OF JUDGES

Article 87. Objectives and grounds for certification of judges
1. Certification of judges shall be conducted by the judicial boards of experts for assessing the professional level of judges and assigning a relevant qualification class [category] to them in order to stimulate their professional development and to raise their responsibility in the course of administration of justice.
2. The following are the grounds for certification of judges:
1) requirements of the law regarding the assignment of a qualification class to the judge appointed to the post for the first time;
2) termination of the term of validity of a relevant qualification class fixed by the law;
3) appointment of a judge to the post in a court of higher level;
4) the request for reschedule assignment of a qualification class or the assignment of a higher qualification class;
5) the decision on imposition of a disciplinary punishment upon a judge;
6) the request of a judge for renewal [continuation] of a qualification class.

Article 88. Qualification classes of judges
1. Depending upon the professional level, post, length of service and experience of work, the following six classes shall be fixed for judges: the highest, the first, the second, the third, the forth and the fifth.
2. Qualification classes shall be assigned to the following persons:
- the judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the judges of higher specialized courts: the highest, the first and the second qualification classes;
- the judges of the Court of Appeal of Ukraine, the judges of specialized courts of appeal and general courts: the first, the second and the third qualification classes;
- the judges of local courts: the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth qualification classes.
2. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the chairmen of the higher specialized courts shall be the judges of the highest qualification class ex officio.

Article 89. The term of validity of qualification classes
1. The persons that have been assigned to their posts for the first time shall be certified within the first year of holding such posts but not later than within six months from the date of appointment.
2. The minimal term of validity of a qualification class that gives the right to assignment of the next class shall be: the fifth and the forth classes – three years; the third and the second classes – five years. The term of validity of the first qualification class is not limited.
3. The judge that has resigned or retired will retain his/her qualification class.
4. Termination of resignation shall entail deprivation of a qualification class with the exception of a repeated election to the post of judge or the loss of citizenship.
5. Taking into account the experience and professional level of a judge, it is allowed to raise a qualification class without observing the fixed sequence but not more than by two classes.
6. A decrease in a qualification class is allowed only in the form of a disciplinary punishment and not more than by one class only.
7. A judge shall be deprived of a qualification class provided such judge is removed from the post on the grounds specified in Items 5, 6, Part five, Article 126 of the Constitution of Ukraine in compliance with the procedure established by the Law of Ukraine "On the status of judges".

Article 90. The procedure and ways of conducting the certification of judges
1. A regular certification of judges shall be conducted not later than within one month after termination of the term of validity of a qualification class assigned to a judge. The preschedule certification of a judge may be conducted only after two years since the day of the last certification of a judge.
2. The unscheduled certification of judges shall be conducted only provided a judicial board of experts is ready to consider the proposal to this effect but not later than within two months from the date of submitting such a proposal.
3. The chairman of a relevant court shall prepare the reference of the judge to be certified that describes his/her moral qualities and professional level. The reference may be supplemented with the decision made by the meeting of judges of a given court.
4. The reference of the chairman of a court in charge of certification shall be made by the chairman of a court of higher level. The reference shall be supplemented with the decision made by the meeting of judges of a given court.
5. The judges subject to certification shall be able to read his/her reference and receive its copy not later than fifteen days before the date of certification.
6. Certification shall be conducted in the presence of the judge that is being certified. The chairman of a court who made the reference of a judge, also the representatives of a relevant judicial self-government authority may participate in consideration of the certification issues.
7. Provided the judge to be certified has failed to attend the meeting of a judicial board of experts for sound reasons, such judge may be certified in absentia if the board believes it possible in case the issue of certification does not involve a disciplinary punishment.
8. Certification is conducted in the form of a qualification examination, qualification interview or a repeated examination.

Article 91. Qualification examination
1. The qualification examination shall be understood as certification of the person that expressed his/her wish to be recommended for holding the post of a judge for the first time.
2. The qualification examination is intended for the determination of knowledge and professional level of the candidate for the post of a judge, the degree of his/her preparedness for administration of justice concerning the issues falling within the jurisdiction of a relevant court.
3. After fulfilling a written task by the candidate, the interview with the candidate and putting oral questions to the candidate, a judicial board of experts, depending on the results of a qualification examination, shall make the conclusion on passing of the examination and the adequacy of such candidate for judicial work, also recommend a candidate for appointment to the post of a judge, or make a well-grounded conclusion concerning the refusal of such recommendation. The examination procedure shall be duly recorded while all the materials relating to the examination shall be kept in the archives as official documents. The results of the qualifying examination shall be valid for a period of 3 years.
4. The qualification examination shall be passed by the persons that are nominated for appointment to the post of a judge for the first time, also the persons that had been removed from the post of a judge more than 5 years ago.
5. Persons that have passed the said examination but have not been nominated due to a lack vacancies shall be deemed nominated by the qualifying commission in the course of 3 years if they don’t revoke their applications within this period of time.
6. The person that failed to pass the qualification examination may be allowed to pass such examination again only after the period of one year. Prior to passing the examination repeatedly, the documents necessary for selection of the candidates for the post of a judge shall be prepared taking into account the information about the candidate within the period between the qualification examinations.
7. The person that failed to pass the repeated qualification examination may be allowed to pass the next qualification examination only after two years.

Article 92. Qualification interview
1. The qualification interview is intended for checking the knowledge of a professional judge, determination of his/her professional adequacy, also the ability to improve his/her skills and administer justice in relevant courts and the courts of a higher level.
2. The qualification interview with the judge laying claim to the assignment of a qualification class for the first time shall concentrate on the professional orientation of this judge in judicial work and his basic judicial skills.
3. The qualification interview shall be conducted orally and concentrate on the basic provisions of law and the materials relating to practical administration of justice and performance of official duties of the judge.
4. The qualification interview with the judge that wishes to receive a qualification class before the appointed time shall concentrate on raising the professional level of such judge, the methods and forms of improvement of judicial procedure and the learning of judicial practice.
5. The qualification interview with the judge laying claim to the assignment of a higher qualification class shall concentrate on the successes attained by the judge during the performance of his/her duties, the nature and complexity of the cases being considered by the judge, the analysis of judicial practice within the limits of his/her specialization and the proposals on improvement of such practice.
6. The qualification interview with the judge that is a candidate for the post in a court of higher level shall concentrate on the knowledge of law, judicial practice and legal analytics; the level of knowledge of such a candidate shall be sufficient for proper performance of judicial duties in a court of higher level.
7. The qualification interview with the judge wishing to be elected to the post of a judge for an unlimited term shall involve the assessment of his/her work at the post of a judge within the space of 5 years, his/her professional level and other circumstances, connected with an unlimited status of a judge.

Article 93. Repeated examination
1. The repeated examination shall be understood as passing a qualification examination by the person that, in accordance with the decision of a judicial board of experts, is not recommended for election to the post of a judge for an unlimited term.
2. The repeated examination may be assigned by the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine in compliance with complaint lodged by a judge that disagrees with the decision of a judicial board of experts on the refusal of recommendation of such judge for his/her election for an unlimited term.
3. The repeated examination shall be passed by a judge to the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine within the space of one month from the day of adoption of the decision on permission to pass the repeated examination.
4. Should a judge fail to pass the repeated examination, the recommendation on removal of this judge from the post shall be submitted to the Higher board of justice.

Article 94. Decision of a judicial board of experts concerning the issues of certification
1. Depending on the professional level, length of service, post and experience of the judge that is being certified, a judicial board of experts shall:
1) assign a relevant qualification class to a judge;
2) leave the previously assigned qualification class of a judge unchanged;
3) recommend a candidate for the post of a judge or deny such recommendation;
4) postpone the certification (in case of inadequate professional level of a judge) for a term not over 6 months.
5) other decisions pursuant to Article 87 of this Law.
2. Deciding on recommendations to elect or appoint a person to an post of judge the qualifying commission shall take into account not only his/her professional skills and knowledge but also his/her personal moral qualities.
3. The qualifying commission is entitled to conclude that a certain judge does not meet the professional requirements pertinent to the post and as such may be subject to dismissal provided that the judge in question has already been given an opportunity (time) to improve his/her skills and knowledge and that the commission would nevertheless deem them insufficient
4. In some cases the qualifying commission may decide on granting a higher qualification grade than that indicated in recommendations or to approve a recommendation on any other incentive to be provided.
5. When certifying a judge and deciding on his/her certification degree the commission shall account for issues such as former work experience as judge , state arbiter, prosecutor as well other professional experience gained in offices usually held by persons with the academic background (higher education) in law.

Article 95. Appeal against the decisions of judicial boards of experts on the issues of certification of judges
1. The judge that disagrees with the decision of a judicial board of experts concerning his/her certification may appeal against this decision at the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine within the space of fifteen days from the day of receiving the copy of such decision.
2. The complaint shall be submitted through the judicial board of experts that has taken the decision. Having received the complaint, this judicial board of experts shall, within the period of three days, send the complaint and other pertinent materials of the case to the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine.
3. The Higher judicial board of Ukraine shall consider the complaints against the decision on certification of judges within the space of one month from the day of filing the complaint and submission of other relevant materials. The board may invite the judge who lodged the complaint to take part in the board's session that considers the complaint.
4. The Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine has the right:
1) to reject a complaint;
2) to change the decision and assign a qualification class to a judge.
3) to leave the previously assigned qualification class of a judge unchanged.
4) to assign a repeated examination.
5. Decisions of the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine shall, within the space of ten days, be sent to the judge who lodged the complaint and to chairman of the court where the judge works.
6. Decisions of the Higher judicial board of experts of Ukraine concerning the issues of certification may be appealed in court only in case of violation of the procedure of consideration of such issues established by the Law.