Selection to the Constitutional Court: nine candidates advance to the next stage
The Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) has completed the stage of assessing the competency level of candidates for the positions of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU). The next step is determining the ranking of candidates and submitting them to the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy. The competition for two positions is being held under the parliamentary quota.
Following the AGE assessment, 9 out of 10 candidates were found to meet the criterion of a recognized level of competence:
- Hanna Anisimova
- Andrii Boiko
- Vladyslav Ivashchenko
- Yuliia Kyrychenko
- Ivan Nazarov
- Tetiana Opanasiuk
- Zakhar Tropin
- Taras Tsymbalistyi
- Oksana Shcherbaniuk
At the same time, it remains unclear how Oksana Shcherbaniuk managed to pass two stages of the selection process. Members of the AGE raised concerns regarding plagiarism in her academic works — particularly in two co-authored monographs and several articles. She had already been “caught” using plagiarised material during the previous selection process. At that time, Shcherbaniuk withdrew her candidacy from the competition.
The candidate appears to place the blame for the plagiarism on her co-authors. She assured the commission that she had only prepared her own sections and edited the text. Shcherbaniuk explained the plagiarism in her own articles as a technical error.
Delays in appointments put the work of the CCU at risk
In addition to the two vacancies under the parliamentary quota, there are currently three more open positions at the CCU — one under the quota of the President of Ukraine and two under the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.
However, the process of selecting judges has significantly stalled, particularly due to delays by the appointing authorities. For example, the President has failed for more than a year either to appoint a candidate under his quota or to announce a competition. Earlier, the Parliament also failed to approve candidates, forcing the competition to restart from the beginning.
The timely appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court is one of the key requirements set by the EU for Ukraine in 2026. In November 2026 and March 2027, the terms of office of two more judges will expire. If delays in filling the court continue, new problems with quorum and risks to the functioning of the Court may arise.
The DEJURE Foundation calls on the Parliament of Ukraine not to delay the process of appointing judges to the Constitutional Court and to take into account the potential risks to the Court’s functioning.
