Judicial protection of human rights and freedoms can only be ensured by competent and independent justice carried out on the basis of justice and impartiality. Such justice presupposes the observance by each judge of the rules of professional ethics, the fair and conscientious performance of their duties, the manifestation of due care for the preservation of both their personal honor and dignity and the dignity and authority of the judiciary.
State guarantees of independence, immunity, irremovability of judges, inadmissibility of interference in their activities, high level of material and social security are not a personal privilege of judges, but a means of ensuring the objectives of justice in legal, justified and fair adjudication.
The Code of Judicial Ethics is based on the provisions of the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic, legislation on the judicial system and the status of judges of the Donetsk People's Republic, generally recognized principles and norms of international law, developing and specifying them in order to ensure everyone's right to a fair and timely hearing by a competent, independent and impartial court as well as to establish standards for the conduct of judges as the basis of public confidence in the judiciary and the quality of justice.
CHAPTER 1. General Terms
Article 1. Scope
1. The Code of Judicial Ethics, as an act of the judicial community, establishes the rules of conduct mandatory for each judge in carrying out their professional activities in the administration of justice and in extrajudicial activities, based on high moral and ethical requirements, provisions of the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic, international standards in the field of justice and judicial conduct.
2. The need to comply with the Code of Judicial Ethics is determined by the status of the judge, by the very fact of empowering a particular person with judicial powers to make a final decision on issues affecting rights, freedoms and duties of persons both applying for judicial remedy and those brought to trial for committing various kinds of offenses.
3. Judges of the Donetsk People's Republic have all the rights provided by the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic, laws, generally recognized principles and norms of international law, taking into account the restrictions established for them by the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic.
4. The provisions of the Code of Judicial Ethics that establish increased moral and ethical requirements for a judge due to its status should not be interpreted as restricting the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Article 2. Sphere of Application
1. The Code of Judicial Ethics applies to all judges of the Donetsk People's Republic, including resigned judges.
2. The rules of professional conduct established by the Code of Judicial Ethics are also applied to persons involved according to the law in the administration of justice during their performance of administering justice functions.
3. In cases where any issues of judicial ethics are not regulated by the Code of Judicial Ethics, the judge must follow generally accepted principles of moral and ethical conduct in society, as well as international standards in the field of justice and judicial conduct.
4. Judges of the Donetsk People's Republic take into account the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, approved by the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations A/RES/40/32 of November 29, 1985, A/RES/40/146 of December 13, 1985, and the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, approved at 41st plenary meeting by the resolution of the UN Economic and Social Council 2006/23 of July 27, 2006.
Article 3. Notions used in the Code of Judicial Ethics
1. The Code of Judicial Ethics uses the following notions:
1) close relatives – spouse, parents, children, adopters, adopted children, siblings, as well as grandparents and grandchildren;
2) spouse of a judge – a person legally married to a judge;
3) family members of a judge – spouse, parents, children, any other close relative living with a judge;
4) persons involved in the administration of justice according to the procedure established by law – lay assessors/ judges;
5) final judicial decision – a court decision which ends the consideration of a case on the merits in the court of the relevant instance.
CHAPTER 2. General Requirements Imposed on Judges
Article 4. Requirements to comply with the legislation and the Code of Judicial Ethics
1. A judge in the performance of his or her duties to the administration of justice must proceed from the fact that the judicial protection of the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen determines the meaning and content of the activities of judiciary.
2. In his or her professional activities and out of duty the judge is obliged to observe the Constitution and laws of the Donetsk People's Republic, to be guided by the legislation on the status of judges of the Donetsk People's Republic, other regulations as well as the principles and rules of conduct established by the Code of Judicial Ethics, generally accepted norms of morality, to follow the oath of the judge.
3. Compliance with the Code of Judicial Ethics should be an internal conviction of the judge, the rule of his or her life, should contribute to strengthening public faith in the judiciary and confidence that justice is exercised competently, independently, impartially and fairly.
Article 5. Requirement to ensure priority in professional activities
1. A judge does not have the right to combine service in the position of a judge with other paid work, except for scientific, teaching, literary and other creative activities.
2. A judge must proceed from the fact that the activities of the administration of justice are prioritized for him in relation to any other activity that he is entitled to exercise in accordance with the legislation on the status of judges.
3. A judge does not have the right to avoid considering applications, petitions and complaints filed to him or her or otherwise refuse to fulfill his or her professional duties, except for cases requiring the application of self-disqualification.
4. Throughout the whole tenure a judge should not carry out any activity that could cast doubt on his or her independence and impartiality and lead to a conflict of interest.
Article 6. Requirements to a judge aimed at ensuring his or her status
1. A judge must follow the high standards of morality, be honest, maintain personal dignity in any situation, cherish his or her honor, avoid anything that might detract the authority of the judiciary and impair the reputation of the judge.
2. A judge must conscientiously use his or her civil rights and perform civil duties. A judge has no right to use his or her official position to obtain personal advantages in civil law relations. He or she should avoid concluding contracts that entail the emergence of financial obligations with his or her subordinates, as well as with persons who are participants in litigations on cases in his production.
3. A judge must not use his or her status to obtain any benefits, services, commercial or other profits for him/ herself, his/ her relatives, friends, acquaintances (for example, obtaining a loan, concluding contracts on other terms than provided for other persons); demand or accept benefits, payments and profits not provided for by the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic (for example, loans, interest-free loans, services, entertainment, recreation, transport costs) and must take reasonable measures to ensure that these benefits and profits are received by the members of his/ her family if this is caused by actions that the judge has committed or intends to commit, or by inaction of the judge in connection with the performance of his or her official duties.
A judge shall not use his or her status when applying to various state bodies and local self-government bodies on personal matters: to receive remuneration related to the fulfillment of duties on the administration of justice from sources other than the budget of the Donetsk People's Republic.
4. The judge must be aware of his/ her personal property and the sources of its formation, should take reasonable measures to obtain information about the property and material interests of members of his or her family.
CHAPTER 3. Principles and rules of the professional judicial conduct
Article 7. Principle of independence
1. Independence of the judiciary is the constitutional principle of ensuring the rule of law in the administration of justice, the condition for impartiality and the basic guarantee of a fair trial. Maintenance of the independence of the judiciary, adherence to the principle of independence is the duty of a judge.
2. While hearing a case a judge shall to adhere to an independent and impartial position with respect to all participants of the process. A judge must exercise judicial authority solely on the basis of the assessment of actual and legal facts of the case, in accordance with the internal conviction respecting the procedural rights of all persons involved, regardless of any outside influence, pressure, threats or other direct or indirect interference in the proceeding, from whatever side it was rendered and no matter what motives and purposes it was caused by.
3. A judge must carry out professional activities in strict accordance with the law, relying on inner conviction and not being influenced by anyone. Public discussion of the judge's activities, critical remarks in his or her address should not affect the legality and validity of the decision he or she renders.
A judge shall inform the chairman of the court and law enforcement agencies about any attempts to influence the judge, direct or indirect pressure on him or her in order to influence the judgement.
Article 8. Principle of objectivity and impartiality
1. The objectivity and impartiality of a judge are mandatory conditions for the proper administration of justice. The conduct of a judge during the trial and outside the court should promote the confidence of the public and the participants of a process in the objectivity and impartiality of a judge and the judiciary.
2. For the purpose of an objective hearing of a case during the performance of judicial professional duties a judge must be free from any preference, prejudice or bias and should strive to exclude any doubt about his impartiality.
3. A judge shall, whenever possible, refrain from committing such actions, which may subsequently cause a conflict of interest or serve as a reason for excluding his or her from a proceeding.
4. A judge must refrain from considering a case if there exists a ground provided for by the law for his or her, or if a conflict of interest may arise, or a situation may arise casting doubt on the impartiality of a judge, including in the following cases:
a) a judge’s spouse or a person who is a close relative of one of them is a person participating in the case, or another participant of a case in this judicial proceeding;
b) a judge or his or her spouse or a person who is a close relative of one of them has an interest in the case in question, may substantially affect the course a proceeding or a court decision may substantially affect their interests;
c) a judge has information that he or she can become a witness on the merits of the case;
d) a judge or his family members are under pressure, threats or other extraneous influences, calling into question the possibility of a judge’s passing an objective judicial decision in the present case. At the same time, a judge may refuse to consider a case in order to ensure the personal safety and security of his or her relatives if all the measures for ensuring the organization of his/ her safety and the safety of his/ her relatives were taken and if the relevant security measures were not carried out by the competent authorities within a reasonable time.
5. A judge shall avoid situations where a personal relationship with the participants of the process can cause reasonable suspicions or let people think that a judge has some preferences or prejudices.
Article 9. Principle of equality
1. Ensuring equal treatment of all persons involved in the case is a prerequisite for an objective and impartial administration of justice and a fair trial.
2. A judge while performing his or her duties must be guided by the principle of equality, maintain balance between the parties, ensuring equal opportunities for each of them showing objectivity and impartiality, treat all the participants of a proceeding with equal attention regardless of their gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances.
3. A judge has the right to require the persons participating in a process and other participants to refrain from showing partiality or prejudice against any person, except in cases that are related to the establishment of factual circumstances, are of legal significance for the subject matter of the trial and can be legitimately justified.
4. A judge shall show tact in communication with citizens, respect the moral customs and traditions of the people, take into account the cultural and other characteristics of various ethnic and social groups and faiths, promote interethnic and inter-religious harmony, avoid conflict situations that may harm his or her reputation or the authority of the judiciary.
5. While performing his or her duties a judge should not demonstrate his or her religious affiliation.
6. A judge must perform his or her professional duties without any preference and without real or visible bias, discrimination, providing the parties with necessary conditions for fulfillment of their procedural duties and with realization of the rights granted to them ensuring an objective hearing of a case within a reasonable time.
Article 10. Competence and conscientiousness of a judge
1. Competence and conscientiousness are the necessary conditions for the proper carrying judicial duties on administering justice.
2. A judge must perform his or her duties conscientiously, at a high professional level, take all measures for timely and qualified consideration of a case, as well as facilitate the reconciliation of the parties and peaceful settlement of a dispute.
3. A judge must take measures to ensure that everyone is entitled to a fair trial within a reasonable time.
4. A judge must maintain his qualifications at a high level, expand professional knowledge, improve practical experience and personal qualities necessary for the proper performance of the duties.
5. A judge shall know about the changes in the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic, the norms of international law, including international conventions and other documents in the field of human rights, and systematically study law enforcement practice.
6. A judge has no right to disclose information constituting the state and other secret protected by the law, the secret of a deliberations room, information about the private life of citizens and other information that he became aware of during the hearing of a case in the court session.
7. A judge must observe the high culture of behavior during proceedings, maintain order in the court session, behave with dignity, and be patient and polite with respect to the participants of a process.
A judge must demand the same behavior from the participants of a process and all persons present at a hearing, as well as from the judicial employees.
Article 11. Rules of conduct while performing organizational and administrative duties
1. Professional activities of a judge include not only the administration of justice in proceedings and decision-making, but also the performance of other tasks and powers, including organizational and administrative nature, related to the activities of the court. At the same time, the exercise of judicial functions prevails in relation to other types of activities.
2. A judge who has organizational and administrative powers over other judges (the chairman of a court, a deputy chairman of a court) in his professional activities must not only fulfill the duties of administering justice, but also conscientiously fulfill the administrative powers assigned to him, maintain a high level of professional qualification in the judicial administration.
3. The chairman of a court (deputy chairman of a court), while exercising organizational and administrative powers has no right to allow actions (inaction) restricting the independence of judges, to exert pressure on them, and to use other methods of administrative influence aimed at influencing the activities of judges connected with the administration of justice.
4. The chairman of a court (deputy chairman of a court) is to take all necessary measures to ensure timely and effective performance by judges of their professional duties, including organizational, financial, material and social measures.
5. The president of a court must ensure an equal distribution of the workload among the judges.
6. The president of a court must use his or her right to resolve personnel issues conscientiously avoiding unreasonable appointments, patronage, and nepotism. When exercising organizational and administrative powers the president of a court must be civil, restrained in relation to the judges and other subordinates, tolerant of criticizing his or her actions, and not allowing direct or indirect persecution for a critical attitude towards himself/ herself.
It is inadmissible both to illegally patronize in service (undeserved encouragement, extraordinary unreasonable promotion, fulfillment of other actions not caused by service necessity), and connivance in service (failure to take measures regards violations committed in the performance, non-response to illegal actions).
7. A judge has the right to demand an assistant judge, a secretary of the court session and other judicial employees to comply with the general principles of official conduct of civil servants, maintain a high professional level, observe proper ethics of behavior, prohibitions, restrictions, and to fulfill the duties provided for by the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic on public service.
8. A judge shall not entrust other judicial employees to perform such actions, which would be considered to be a violation of the Code of Judicial Ethics, if they were undertaken directly by a judge himself/ herself.
Article 12. Cooperation with the media
1. The effectiveness of judicial activity depends on the trust in it on the part of society, on the proper understanding by the society of the legal motives of decisions delivered by the court.
In order to provide objective, reliable and prompt information to the public about the activities of a court a judge must cooperate with the representatives of the media.
2. A judge shall promote the professional coverage of the work of the court and judges in the media, since this helps not only to build the citizens' sense of justice and confidence in the court, not only increases the authority of justice but also promotes the media to fulfill their important public function of informing citizens about all socially significant events.
3. When covering the judicial activity in the media a judge should be cautious, not comment on the nature of cases for which final judicial decisions have not been yet rendered. However, this does not exclude a judge's right to provide information on the procedural stages of proceedings.
4. A judge must exercise restraint and civility when commenting on the decisions of his colleagues. A judge has the right to explain or comment on the decision rendered by him or her, to express an opinion on the established practice of applying the norms of substantive and/ or procedural law.
Within the judicial community, a judge can express disagreement with the behavior of his colleagues in order to eliminate drawbacks in the field of legal proceedings, prevent and eliminate violations of constitutional and international legal principles of publicity of proceedings.
5. A judge cannot leave unanswered public accusations of him in violation of the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic, other legal acts, in abuse of official position, mercenary or other personal interest in the outcome of a proceeding. In the case of an unjustified accusation of a judge, he or she has the right to use the ways of protecting honor and dignity prescribed by law, and to count on the support of the judicial community.
6. A judge, responding to public criticism, shall exercise restraint and circumspection. In cases where as a result of unreasonable criticism of a judge's actions in the media the credibility and impartiality of justice may suffer, a response to criticism in the form of a media publication, of the press service commentary and/ or the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, as well as of the body of the judicial community is preferable.
CHAPTER 4. Principles and Rules of a Judge’s Conduct off duty
Article 13. Principles of carrying out off duty activities
1. In off duty activities and off duty relations a judge must avoid everything that might harm the authority of the judiciary, cast doubt on its impartiality and fairness.
2. A judge may engage in various types of extrajudicial activities, including scientific, educational, and creative work, and participate in various public events, unless it contradicts the law on the status of judges of the Donetsk People's Republic harms the interests of justice.
3. A judge shall not engage in such types of extrajudicial activity and participate in such public events which conflict with a judge’s carrying out his or her professional duties, adversely affect the independence and impartiality of a judge, lead to frequent applications for the challenge or rejection of a judge, or go beyond the limits, established by the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic on the status of judges.
4. A judge's participation in social networks, Internet forums and his or her use of other forms of communication the Internet are acceptable. However, a judge can only post, comment on information that does not harm the authority of a judge and the judiciary.
Article 14. Participation in the activities connected with the development of the law and legislation
1. A judge has the right to participate in events aimed at developing the character and improving the legislation, the judiciary and justice.
2. A judge can make public reports and lectures, participate in public hearings, scientific forums and conferences, write articles and books, carry out scientific and teaching activities, including on a fee basis, as well as engage in other activities related to the field of law, legislation, and justice, unless this contradicts the legislation on the status of judges.
3. A judge has the right to freely express his or her opinion and take part in public discussions including on the effectiveness of judicial activity, explain the legal motives of judicial decisions passed by him/ her or his/ her colleagues. However, in his or her statements (comments), a judge shall exercise restraint and circumspection, be impartial in relation to the persons participating in a case.
Article 15. Restrictions concerning carrying out entrepreneurial business together with the judicial practice
1. A judge has no right to engage in entrepreneurial business personally or through proxies, including taking part in the management of an economic entity regardless of its organizational and legal form.
2. A judge has no right to engage in law and other legal practice, to provide legal services while in office as a judge. At the same time, a judge has the right to represent himself or herself as well as in the case of legal representation other persons in judicial and other bodies, to give consultations, clarifications and provide other legal assistance to members of his or her family. These restrictions apply also to resigned judges, unless otherwise provided by law.
3. A judge may become a testamentary executor or other trusted person only with respect to the property or non-property rights of a member of his or her family. When exercising the power of a trustee, a judge must act within the same restrictions that apply to his or her activities in this capacity on his or her behalf.
Article 16. Cooperation with public authorities and local government authorities
1. A judge has the right to cooperate with the legislative and executive authorities, local government authorities on issues of law, legislation, the judiciary, and judicial practice insofar as this is perceived as expressing his or her own position based on personal experience and knowledge in the area in which he or she specializes, avoiding all that can cause doubts in his or her independence, impartiality and influence him or her on the part of officials of the said bodies.
2. A judge must refrain from public utterances and assessments of the state bodies and local government bodies’ activities, as well as the heads of these bodies.
3. A judge may participate in the activities of committees, commissions formed by state bodies and local government bodies, except when their activities are not related to the improvement of legislation, legal and judicial systems and if participation in their activities creates obstacles in the performance of professional judicial duties or undermines public trust in the authority of the judiciary, raises doubts about the independence and impartiality of a judge.
4. A judge may represent the Donetsk People's Republic at ceremonial meetings or in connection with historical, educational and cultural events.
Article 17. Restrictions concerning political activities
1. A judge has no right to be a member of parliament, to belong to political parties and movements, labor union organizations, to take part in any political activity.
2. A judge shall not be involved consist, be a head or occupy any position in any political organization; to support a political organization or a candidate for an elected post, and also publicly support or oppose a candidate for election; participate in the collection of funds, pay contributions or provide financial support to a political organization or a candidate, or attend events sponsored by a political organization or a candidate; publicly express his or her political views, participate in processions and demonstrations of a political nature, or in other political actions.
Article 18. Freedom of expression
1. Any judge has the right to express his or her opinion freely. This right includes freedom to hold personal opinions, to receive and spread information without any interference on part of public authorities.
2. A judge must exercise his or her right to freedom of expression in a way that is compatible with the restrictions imposed on him or her by his status. However, he or she must exercise restraint in all cases where the authority of a court and the impartiality of justice can be questioned. A judge should refrain from public statements or comments that may harm the interests of justice, its independence and impartiality.
Article 19. Responsibility for violating the Code of Judicial Ethics
1. The rules of conduct established by this Code are mandatory for every judge of the Donetsk People's Republic, regardless of the position held, as well as for retired judges retaining the title of a judge and belonging to the judiciary community of the Donetsk People's Republic.
2. Having violated the provisions of this Code a judge may be disciplined by the President of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic according to the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic.
(Part 2 Article 4 of the Order No 27-od in force as of February 5, 2016).
3. When applying this code, all the circumstances of the committed misdemeanor are taken into account, as well as the harm caused to the authority of the judiciary and the title of a judge, the identity of the judge and his attitude towards the committed misconduct.