Status Incompatibility and False Declarations: The Competition for the Constitutional Court Continues

The competition for a position in the Constitutional Court under the quotas of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the President is ongoing. Currently, there are four vacant positions in the Constitutional Court, and by the end of January 2025, three more will become vacant. If at least one new judge is not appointed by the end of this month, the court’s work will be blocked.

On January 14, the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) conducted interviews with candidates Holobutovskyi and Ivashchenko. What is known about them?

Roman Holobutovskyi – Judge of the District Administrative Court of Dnipro

Although the candidate has held a judicial position since 2010, he also underwent an internship as an attorney and obtained a lawyer’s certificate in August 2019. When questioned about the incompatibility of holding both judicial and attorney oaths, he claimed to have suspended his attorney certificate. He also claimed that even as a trainee, he did not participate in case proceedings. However, this contradicts his internship diary, which contains information about his participation in hearings. Interns are required to review and sign this document.

Holobutovskyi was also questioned about a case he handled in 2021 involving a company whose ultimate owner is businessman Serhiy Shapran, an acquaintance of the candidate. This raises concerns about a conflict of interest. Moreover, Holobutovskyi initiated a case involving Shapran’s company, even though a similar case was already being considered by the District Administrative Court of Kyiv. According to the investigative journalism project Schemes, Shapran acquired a business from Russian businessman Naumets worth $1 billion. The candidate explained that he has only known Shapran since 2022, though he described him as an honest businessman and family man. However, earlier in the interview, he told the commission that he had known Shapran since 2019.

The judge also failed to answer questions about his dissertation, including its scientific novelty, the problems it addressed, and possible solutions. During his interview with the parliamentary committee, he could not recall the topic of his research or the name of his academic advisor. Notably, in 2022, the Ethics Council determined that Holobutovskyi did not meet the integrity criteria.

Vladyslav Ivashchenko – Attorney

The AGE questioned Ivashchenko about his failure to disclose in his declarations that he had been held administratively and disciplinarily liable while serving as a prosecutor. Ivashchenko responded that he does not believe a candidate for judicial office should list every instance of accountability in their life. However, during the competition for the High Council of Justice, the Ethics Council had already deemed him unfit due to this omission.

Additionally, Ivashchenko’s wife purchased a plot of land for nearly $4,000, while the real value of such land, according to the Ethics Council’s calculations, could have been around $220,000. However, the AGE did not raise this issue during the interview.