400,000 UAH at once and 75,000 UAH monthly: the HCJ grants judge Andrienko an honorable resignation

The High Council of Justice (HCJ) has granted an honourable resignation to judge Hanna Andrienko, who had delayed nearly fifty cases related to drunk driving. As a result, she will now receive approximately 75,000 UAH per month in pension benefits, along with a one-time severance payment of at least 400,000 UAH. Only HCJ members Kandziuba and Lukianov opposed this decision.

Today, on December 19, the HCJ was scheduled to consider Andrienko’s dismissal based on the recommendation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), which would have resulted in no financial benefits, alongside her resignation request. The HCJ had the option to postpone her resignation until after reviewing her dismissal per the HQCJ’s recommendation. However, it sided with both the judge and the Supreme Court, which had ruled that the HCJ must consider Andrienko’s resignation despite its previous decision to defer it until she completed her qualification assessment.

As a result, the HCJ and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, through their disruptive rulings, are creating a crisis in the judicial system and undermining the judicial reform required for Ukraine’s European integration. Andrienko is yet another judge of low integrity who will now enjoy lifelong financial security at taxpayers’ expense. Such decisions by key judicial institutions completely contradict the primary goal of judicial reform — cleansing the system.

Given the repeated cases of judges securing lifelong financial benefits through resignation, often to evade qualification assessment, it is time to discuss changing judicial retirement rules.