Verification of jury candidates by commissions blocked in Odesa

The Odesa City Council rejected the idea of creating a special working group to select jurors, recognizing such an initiative as illegal. The legal department emphasized that the current legislation does not provide for additional procedures for verifying candidates outside the established procedure.

Intent learned about this from a letter sent by the director of the Legal Department, Inna Popovska, to the deputies of the Odesa City Council.

The Legal Department has officially stated that there are no legal grounds for creating a working group to review and approve jurors for the city's district courts. The relevant conclusion was prepared pursuant to an order from the city administration.

The document emphasizes that the procedure for forming jury lists is clearly regulated by the Law of Ukraine "On the Judicial System and Status of Judges". According to it, it is local councils that approve lists of candidates based on a submission from the territorial department of the State Judicial Administration. At the same time, the law does not provide for any additional mechanisms, such as interviews, integrity checks, or approval by commissions.

The lawyers emphasized that the creation of any advisory or auxiliary bodies for the "selection" of jurors actually goes beyond the powers of local self-government and may contravene the law. Moreover, such structures have no right to substitute the established procedure.

It is also noted that jury candidates already submit the necessary applications, confirm the absence of restrictions and provide basic documents - passport data, information about their place of residence and certificates of no criminal record. There are no additional requirements, such as health or professional reputation, and they may violate the law.

However, the final decision to involve a juror in a particular case is made by the court. It is also the court that has the power to dismiss or dismiss jurors if circumstances are found that make it impossible for them to participate in justice.

Thus, the city council effectively put an end to the discussion: No "additional filters" will be introduced for jury candidates, and the procedure will remain exclusively within the law.

At the same time, the issue of jury selection to the city's district courts became a matter for the regional council after the Odesa City Council failed to deal with it.

Thus, at the extraordinary session of the city council held on April 10, during the consideration of this issue, there were discussions among the deputies, as they were not supported at the extraordinary session. This caused indignation among deputy Olga Kvasnytska, because the absence of jurors could make it impossible to consider some cases and these cases would be transferred to courts in other cities. The term of office of the current jurors expires in early May this year.

Анна Бальчінос