National Judicial Institute

Published purpose

This project aims to support the Ukrainian government’s efforts to reform and strengthen its justice system through enhanced judicial independence, judicial self-governance, judicial professionalism, transparency and integrity. The project assists stakeholders of the judicial system to establish and entrench European and international standards and processes, develop new gender-neutral policies and court practices, and strengthen institutional and individual capacity in the application of uniform legal standards. The project also assists to clarify the separation of powers and roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders. The project has three major components: (1) providing technical assistance to the Supreme Court of Ukraine to enhance and strengthen judicial independence; (2) providing technical assistance to the High Council of Justice and the Council of Judges to improve judicial accountability and enhance transparency, objectivity and integrity of judicial selection and discipline; and (3) providing technical assistance to the State Court Administration to improve court administration and communications between the public and tribunals, and collaboration between civil society and the public. Project activities include: (1) strengthening the institutional and human resources capacity of key judicial institutions, such as the Supreme Court, High Council of Justice, and High Qualification Commission of Judges; (2) developing policies and procedural frameworks for judicial selection, appointment, discipline and career management; (3) enhancing skills of chief judges in six target regions in effective court management, gender equality, judicial ethics and conflict resolution; (4) training of the staff of the State Court Administration in Kyiv and regional branches in effective and gender-sensitive court management; and (5) increasing court communication skills of the speaker-judges and court press secretaries in target regions. The project is implemented by the National Judicial Institute (NJI) of Canada and the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada.