Delegation of the Association of Judges of Ukraine took part in the biannual congress of the European Judges Association: four resolutions and a Ukrainian vote in defense of the independence of justice

On May 8-10, 2025, the semiannual meeting of the European Association of Judges (EAJ) - the Regional Group of the International Association of Judges (IAJ) was held in Yerevan (Armenia). The event was attended by representatives of 34 national associations of judges in Europe, including the delegation of the Association of Judges of Ukraine.

The meetings were attended by representatives of the EAJ and the IAJ, including:

• President of the IAJ - Juro Cessa,
• First Vice President and President of the IBA Group - Walter Barone,
• President emeritus of IAJ - Gary Reisner,
• President of the EAJ and Vice President of the IAJ - Michael Schoberg,
• Vice Presidents of IAJ - Sabine Mateika and Roland Kempfle,
• Secretary General of IAJ - Giacomo Oberto,
• The Deputy Secretary General of the IAJ is Rafael Gargiulo.

Conference: Justice for Judges — Safeguarding Judicial Independence

The event began with an international conference on current threats to the judiciary in Europe.

The following topics were discussed together with European colleagues:

• political pressure on judges
• financial dependence of the judicial system,
• Strengthening the role of professional associations in protecting the institutional independence of judges.

The Ukrainian delegation's coverage of the issues: guarantees of remuneration of judges as the basis of independence

To the analytical request of the EAJ, the Association of Judges of Ukraine prepared a meaningful written response, which revealed a number of important issues:

• constitutional and legislative guarantees of judicial remuneration in Ukraine;
• the problems of annual establishment of the understated size of the subsistence minimum in the Law of Ukraine on the state budget, applicable to the calculation of judges' remuneration;
• the established legal positions of the Supreme Court regarding the inadmissibility of narrowing the guarantees of material support of judges outside the limits of the special law;
• analysis of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which emphasize that the level of remuneration is an element of independence and cannot be reduced by other regulations.

Attention was also drawn to the limited participation of the judiciary in the formation of the state budget, the need for legislative predictability and unity of approaches to remuneration of judges of all instances.

Four EAJ Resolutions: Responding to Challenges in Europe

During the meeting, the EAJ unanimously adopted four resolutions in defense of judicial independence:

1. Italy - condemned the proposed constitutional changes, in particular the introduction of a draw in the formation of the High Council of Judicial Proceedings, its division into separate bodies and the removal of disciplinary powers.
2. Czech Republic — A law that reduces judges' remuneration for 2025 by changing the indexation mechanism has been sharply criticized, despite a presidential veto and rejection by the Senate.
3. Hungary has expressed deep concern over public attacks on judges, discriminatory rules on the extension of powers beyond 65 years and new legislative initiatives without the involvement of the judicial community.
4. Greece has drawn attention to the use of disciplinary procedures as an instrument of pressure on judges, in particular through proposed procedural changes and public prosecutions.

Ukraine's participation in the biannual EAJ Congress has become an important platform for presenting national experience, discussing current threats to judicial independence and solidarity support of the European judicial community.

The delegation communicated at the level of all delegations present at the congress in order to discuss the problems of non-compliance with the guarantees of judicial independence, which made it possible to draw wide international attention to the current challenges in this area.

Detailed coverage of this issue is the basis for further systematic work on ensuring real guarantees of the independence of judges, which will be carried out by the Association of Judges of Ukraine in preparation for the next World Congress of Judges.

Thank you to colleagues for the constructive dialogue and important work!