In Ukraine, aspiring judges are now exempt from taking the IQ test after President Zelensky signed a new law.

Future Ukrainian judges need not worry about IQ assessments. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has signed relevant amendments to the Law on "Judicial System and Status of Judges".

Now, candidates for positions in appellate courts and the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) will no longer be required to take a test to determine their intelligence level. The requirement to achieve a passing score of 75% during cognitive testing has been removed. The High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) will determine this independently and anonymously.

The explanatory note provides the rationale for this decision. During preparations for the IQ testing in 2023, it became clear that assessments of cognitive abilities were conducted using fundamentally different methodologies.

"This poses a risk of using inappropriate measurement tools and evaluating the abilities of candidates for vacant judicial positions," the authors of the amendments noted.

The competitions for appellate courts and the HACC will include testing on the history of Ukrainian statehood, general legal knowledge, and court specialization (administrative, economic, or general). The HQCJ will set the passing score for the qualification exam, which cannot be lower than 75% of the maximum possible score for each testing and practical assignment of the qualification exam.

Filtering candidates based on this principle has been deemed completely justified, as most professional lawyers can achieve results close to the maximum. In contrast, the situation with the IQ test is different: it is unlikely that a maximum possible score can be established, as there may always be a genius who scores even higher, the authors point out.

"The aforementioned legal requirement limits candidates with an average level of intelligence from continuing their participation in the competition. The commission will only be able to work with candidates who have high general intelligence scores, measured by a methodology that may not provide a reliable conclusion," the note states.

It is claimed that the HQCJ will not be able to assess a candidate's professional knowledge and skills if they do not overcome "an unreasonably high barrier in a rather specific type of testing".

Let us remind you that on November 5, 2024, out of 122 candidates for positions as judges in the appellate court, only 22 individuals passed the IQ test. The minimum score for candidates was 108.75 points (75%) out of a maximum of 145.

In Kharkiv, the interview for the position of judge was not passed by Viktoria Pavlova, who stole sugar from a store. Prior to the competition, she worked as a judge's assistant.