The government’s draft law submitted to the Venice Commission for consideration, in addition to a new procedure for forming the HQCJ, also substantially changes the procedures for electing (appointing) members of the High Council of Justice (HCJ). The proposed changes may create new risks for the selection competitions. Telling in itself is the way the… Continue reading New rules bring new risks. What the draft law on the selection of HCJ members changes
On 14 July, the Ethics Council found five candidates for the High Council of Justice to meet the criteria of professional ethics and integrity. They are Iryna Davydovych, Oleksandr Zhytnyi, Lesia Muzyka, Ivan Nazarov, and Tetiana Tsuvina. Five candidates were found not to meet the criteria. They are Pavlo Hultai, Mykola Kucheriavenko, Yaroslav Melnyk, Raisa… Continue reading Ethics Council recommends candidates for the High Council of Justice
Draft Law No. 15374 has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada. It is intended to prevent the High Council of Justice’s work from grinding to a halt in the spring of 2027 and to make judges’ disciplinary liability more effective and predictable. The adoption of this draft law is one of Ukraine’s commitments to the… Continue reading A draft law has been registered in the Rada to make judges’ disciplinary liability more effective
Bohdan Sanin — a judge whose name became a symbol of unlawful bans during the Revolution of Dignity and of corruption scandals — is finally one step away from official dismissal. On June 22, 2026, the First Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) finally decided to hold Bohdan Sanin disciplinarily liable. A… Continue reading Judge Bohdan Sanin of DACK suspended from duty and referred for dismissal
Scandalous judge of the District Administrative Court of the city of Kyiv (DACK), Natalia Dobrivska, has become the next in line among the low-integrity judges to receive from the High Council of Justice a green light to lifetime payments of at least UAH 63,000 per month. The judge may also receive 378,000 hryvnias as a… Continue reading Judges with integrity reservations in line for lifetime payments, the High Council of Justice votes “yes”
The High Council of Justice (HCJ) has retired judge Anna Kuzmenko of the dissolved District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DACK), who had been issuing rulings at the direction of the court’s former notorious head, Pavlo Vovk. Kuzmenko is 43 years old and will now receive a lifetime monthly allowance of at least UAH 65,000 and… Continue reading Honourable escape: how DACK judge Kuzmenko avoided assessment and secured lifetime payments
The right of the Congress of Judges to recall a member of the High Council of Justice, which has meanwhile allegedly become a punitive body, as well as abandoning the obligation of judges to report interference in their work to the Prosecutor General and the HCJ — these are the ideas promoted by Vitalii Salikhov… Continue reading The Course of Salikhov, Head of the Council of Judges, toward impunity and control over the High Council of Justice
The High Council of Justice (HCJ) unanimously recognised that the actions of the Bar self-governance bodies in holding HCJ member Roman Maselko disciplinarily liable constituted interference in his activities. The HCJ once again emphasised that such actions discredit its work as an independent constitutional body and undermine the authority of the judiciary as a whole.… Continue reading The High Council of Justice recognized the actions of bar self-governance bodies as interference in the activities of its member and as discrediting the Council’s decisions
In the High Council of Justice (HCJ), an attempt was made to initiate disciplinary proceedings against an inspector following a complaint filed by Pavlo Vovk, who is trying to return to his position through the Supreme Court. HCJ member Serhii Burlakov proposed opening disciplinary proceedings against disciplinary inspector Iryna Davydovych. The basis was a complaint… Continue reading How Vovk tries to close complaints against himself, and Burlakov helps him do it in the High Council of Justice
Judge Yevhenii Ablov is doing everything possible to prevent the disciplinary case in the High Council of Justice (HCJ) from reaching a decision, and every month of this delay is paid for from the state budget. Yevhenii Ablov is an associate of Pavlo Vovk, the former head of the now-liquidated District Administrative Court of Kyiv… Continue reading Threatened a judge with criminal prosecution to get a job at the SBI — another Ablov case in the High Council of Justice
Judges may be held disciplinarily liable on the basis of materials from criminal proceedings, including covert investigative actions (CIAs). Eleven members of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) have issued a joint position to this effect. They emphasised that this practice is well established, lawful, and confirmed by decisions of both the HCJ and the… Continue reading The High Council of Justice publicly justified the use of criminal case materials in judges’ disciplinary proceedings
