Restoring the Rule of Law – Judge Thomas B. Griffith Journeys to Ukraine as Part of First Advisory Group of Experts to Evaluate Candidates for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

In 2023, Judge Thomas B. Griffith received an invitation to be considered among a group of experts tasked with evaluating candidates for Ukraine’s highest court. As a lifelong crusader for the rule of law, political civility, and democracy who has spent almost 30 years working with reformers in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe, it was an invitation Judge Griffith felt he had a moral duty to pursue. Several months later, he embarked on a 39-hour journey, arriving in Kyiv, Ukraine with the mission of helping to restore the rule of law in a war-torn country.

Judge Griffith, a special counsel with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and former federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has been appointed by the government of Ukraine to be a member of the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) which recommends candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. There are 12 members of the AGE, six of whom are Ukrainian experts and six of whom are international experts. Former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor is the only other American member.

In a span of 10 days, more than 30 candidates were interviewed in sessions held in a bomb shelter in Kyiv that were simultaneously translated and live-streamed for anyone in Ukraine or elsewhere to watch. This level of transparency in the judicial selection process – previously unheard of in Ukraine – has been positively received by many in the country and, Judge Griffith hopes, will lead to a new era of public confidence in Ukraine’s judiciary.

Since his appointment last October, Judge Griffith and the AGE have met virtually nearly every week, and have held two in-person meetings, one in Lviv, Ukraine, and the other in Warsaw, Poland, all in preparation for the formal, face-to-face interview process earlier this month in Kyiv.

“This process has the potential to have a transformative impact on Ukraine’s legal system,” said Judge Griffith. “We hope that the transparency will convince the people of Ukraine that the Constitutional Court is an entity they can trust and that this show of commitment will  demonstrate to the European Union how serious Ukraine is about the rule of law.”

With the formal interviews addressing the moral integrity of the candidates complete, Judge Griffith and his fellow advisors will now turn their focus to the legal competency of the candidates, with a special emphasis on their knowledge of constitutional law and human rights. Deliberations will continue until this summer, when the panel will present its final pool of candidates to the Ukrainian government. While the governing bodies must only make appointments from the pool vetted and approved by the AGE, they may choose to make no selections or to only fill some of the five vacant seats on the 18-member Constitutional Court. This vetting process will continue to fill vacancies to the Constitutional Court. Judge Griffith’s appointment to the AGE is for a six-year term.

While in Kyiv, Judge Griffith experienced a number of air raid alerts. Those occurring while the AGE interviewed applicants created no disruption since the hearings were held in a bomb shelter. Those occurring in the middle of the night were another matter, as Judge Griffith and his colleagues had to take refuge in the bomb shelter of their hotel. Judge Griffith was impressed by the morale and remarkable courage of the Ukrainian people despite suffering the loss of close family members and being forced to flee from their homes – one Ukrainian woman going so far as to say that “many of our daughters will be named ‘Victoria’” once the war is over. Judge Griffith also travelled to several of the suburbs surrounding Kyiv where Ukraine’s forces stopped Russian advances into the capital, pivotal victories that came with a devastating cost of lives.

“I’ve never before visited a mass grave, and I never want to again. It’s sobering to see the destruction but hopeful to see rebuilding efforts in progress and people striving to maintain normalcy. I was awed by the bravery of the people of Ukraine who are working to restore their country, reform the court and government and expel corruption in the midst of an active war zone. Their courage is truly inspiring,” said Judge Griffith.

Before departing Ukraine, Judge Griffith had the opportunity to spend time speaking with law students, answering questions about the AGE’s process and impressing the importance of this work to reform the judicial system and uphold the rule of law in their country, the effects of which will be profound throughout Eastern Europe.