I'm not considering withdrawing a draft "court map" related to the judicial reform from the legislative process, the head of the Justice Ministry Maria Kolikova (For the People) said on Friday in response to an open letter in which 320 judges called on her on January 14 to take such a step. Judges are proposing to prepare the court map reform with their active participation, they are also calling for an expert discussion. Kolikova considers the way in which the judges expressed their disagreement with the proposed court map reform to be non-standard. She emphasised that the planned reform directly concerns 24 first-instance and five regional courts. According to her, many more than the 320 judges who signed the open letter will be affected. The minister denied allegations that she did not communicate sufficiently with the judges concerned. "I don't understand it well enough. I talk to the judges continuously. They know that my door is open," she said, noting that she does not remember any reform that would involve as many judges as the proposed change to the court map.
Source: TASR
