Negative Integrity Conclusion on Kartere Valerii Ivanovych: Crimea Connection in Judicial Assessment

What Happened#

On January 18, 2019, the Public Integrity Council approved a negative integrity conclusion on Kartere Valerii Ivanovych (Картере Валерій Іванович), a candidate for a position at Supreme Court of Ukraine. The conclusion was adopted by 11 of 12 members, including Vadym Valko.

This case does not contain explicit Crimea-related content that demonstrates the PIC’s recognition of Russian jurisdiction over the peninsula. The document mentions trips to the Russian Federation in 2015-2016 but does not specifically reference Crimea or Sevastopol, and these trips were flagged as general security concerns rather than being treated as connections to occupied Ukrainian territory.

Vadym Valko voted in favor of this conclusion. The Crimea-related element was flagged as a concern but was not cited as the primary basis for the negative conclusion.

The Crimea Connection#

The candidate in 2015-2016 together with related persons repeatedly (6 cases) crossed the border with the Russian Federation. The purpose of the trips is unknown. The candidate as a former military officer and judge should have understood the danger and risks threatening him and his family as a civil servant-judge.

This quote does not demonstrate PIC’’s recognition of Russian jurisdiction over Crimea, as it refers to general trips to Russia without mentioning Crimea specifically.

Context#

The Public Integrity Council was established in 2016 as part of post-2014 judicial reform in Ukraine. Its mandate was to assist in vetting judges and judicial candidates based on integrity and professional ethics.

By treating Crimea-related connections as integrity risks within a formal assessment framework, the PIC applies an operational logic that treats Crimea as Russian-administered territory — contradicting Ukraine’s constitutional position that Crimea is sovereign Ukrainian territory under temporary occupation.

This conclusion is part of a documented pattern: a systematic review of PIC conclusions reveals that across dozens of cases, judges and candidates were assessed negatively on the basis of connections to Crimea. The pattern was formally codified in the December 16, 2020 revised Indicators.

Verification#

• Official PIC conclusion document dated January 18, 2019.
• Electronic voting record confirming participation by Vadym Valko (11 of 12).