SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT OF INTERESTS OF JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF UKRAINE AS A GUARANTEE OF OBSERVING THE PRINCIPLES OF ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY IN ENSURING STATE SECURITY
Authors: Halai Viktoriia 
Published: February 2025

The article examines the issue of legal methods of conflict of interest settlement in the activities of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine as a guarantee of compliance with the principles of anti-corruption policy while ensuring the state security of Ukraine.
Еstablished that the Constitutional Court is not officially a part of the judicial power of Ukraine and, thus, methods of conflict of interest settlement for judges of the general judicial system according to the Law of Ukraine «On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges» cannot be a priority for judges of the KSU, who are guided by their own Law of Ukraine «On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine». The unifying law in this case is the Law of Ukraine «On Prevention of Corruption», which defines the concept and separate rules for conflict of interest settlement for judges.
It was found that the implementation of the provisions of the 2022 State Security Strategy will make it possible to form an integrated security sector of the state as the main element of the state security system and an effective tool for high-quality management of risks to state security, to increase the effectiveness of the state-wide system of state security, therefore, as a task of the state policy in the sphere of ensuring state security means, in particular, the prevention of corruption in the ranks of the Constitutional Court in order to comply with the anti-corruption policy of the state and strengthen the protection of the constitutional order of Ukraine. It was determined that according to the Law of Ukraine «On the Prevention of Corruption» of 2014, the specifics of the settlement of the conflict of interests that arose in the activities of certain categories of persons (judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine) are related to the prohibition for a person who is a member of a collegial body (committee, commission , collegiums) to participate in decision-making in the event of a real or potential conflict of interest, so the methods of settlement in this case will be a declaration of conflict of interest by any other member of the relevant collegial body or participant of the meeting, which is directly related to the issue under consideration or the participation of a person in decision-making under external control in the event that his non-participation as part of the collegial body, in decision-making by this body will lead to the loss of the authority of this body .
It was found that the Law of Ukraine «On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine» of 2017 establishes the reasons for using such methods of conflict resolution as recusal or self-recusal for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when the judge is directly or indirectly interested in the outcome of the case; the judge is a family member or a close relative of the persons participating in the case; there are other circumstances that call into question the judge’s objectivity and impartiality.
It is noted that among the effective practical ways of settling the conflict of interests of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, both the approved procedure for filling out a voluntary Declaration of private interests by a judge and avoiding a conflict of interest for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, taking into account the requirements of Art. 26 of the Law of Ukraine «On Prevention of Corruption» regarding restrictions on persons authorized to perform state functions (judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine), who have resigned or otherwise ceased their activity, not to represent the interests of any person in court cases in which the other party is an authority, the enterprise, institution, organization in which they worked at the time of termination of the specified activity within a year from the date of termination of their activity.
It was concluded that the Anti-corruption Strategy for 2021-2025, defined by the Law of Ukraine «On the Principles of State Anti-corruption Policy for 20212025», adds the expected strategic results that must be resolved in the field of conflict of interest regulation, compliance with general restrictions and prohibitions, rules ethical behavior: improvement of legal procedures for notification of conflicts of interest and mechanisms for its settlement, in particular with regard to persons who do not have direct manager or hold elected positions; improvement of the system of rules for independent and external settlement of conflicts of interest; establishment of a list of prohibitions on making decisions, taking actions or concluding agreements as a way to prevent conflicts of interest, etc.
At the same time, it was established that in clause. The expected strategic results of «Fair court, prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies» relate to the justice system without specifying the problems of conflict of interest settlement in the activities of judges.