The Supreme Court Declares the HCJ’s Refusal to Submit a Motion for Judge Shulika’s Appointment Unlawful

Yesterday, a panel of judges from the Administrative Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court ruled that the High Council of Justice’s (HCJ) refusal to submit a motion to the President for the appointment of judge Shulika was unlawful. Interestingly, we had submitted a request for the hearing to be broadcast, yet the Supreme Court chose to ignore this request.

What is known about Oleksandra Shulika?

She and her family traveled to the temporarily occupied Crimea for vacation in 2014. Additionally, she visited her grandfather in Russia multiple times over several years, as he refused to relocate to Ukraine.

In 2019, the previous High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) determined that Shulika had passed the qualification assessment and met the requirements for the position. The new HQCJ recommended her appointment as a judge. Notably, the Public Integrity Council (PIC) did not issue an opinion on Shulika, as it was not participating in the qualification assessment process at that time. When the HCJ reviewed the case, it was unable to submit a motion to the President for Shulika’s appointment as a judge of the Onufriivka District Court of Kirovohrad Region due to an insufficient number of votes.

This ruling by the Supreme Court raises many questions, particularly why such a highly respected institution tolerates and shields judges whose actions conflict with national security concerns.