The decision to hold the judge disciplinarily liable and to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of a submission for dismissal from office was adopted by the First Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ on 1 December 2025.
Oksana Kvasha: A judge is a moral authority for society
Deputy Head of the High Council of Justice Oksana Kvasha took part in the work of the 14th Judicial Forum, where strategic challenges and the future of the judiciary were discussed.
During the session devoted to judicial reform, she drew attention to the complexity and high emotional burden of the judge selection process. According to her, after interviews at the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the High Council of Justice, candidates may experience psychological fatigue; however, these procedures make it possible to assess whether a person is ready for the challenges of the judicial profession. Members of the HCJ, she emphasized, strive to be as tolerant as possible — both in the form and substance of their questions.
Speaking about ethics and integrity, Oksana Kvasha stressed that a judge is a public figure and must serve as a role model not only in professional activity but also in private life — a moral authority for society.
More details are available via the link.
Two judges have been retired from office:
Oksana Voloshchuk — from the position of judge of the Khust District Court of Zakarpattia Region;
Yaroslava Kerekesa — from the position of judge of the Pereiaslav City District Court of Kyiv Region.
The High Council of Justice will submit recommendations to the President of Ukraine for the appointment of seven judges
On 2 December 2025, the High Council of Justice adopted decisions to submit recommendations to the President of Ukraine for the appointment of two judges to appellate courts and one judge to a local court, namely:
- Inna Kulchii — to the position of judge of the North-Western Commercial Court of Appeal;
- Iryna Pyvovar — to the position of judge of the First Administrative Court of Appeal;
- Anastasiia Remezok — to the position of judge of the Oleksandriia City District Court of Kirovohrad Region.
On 9 December 2025, the High Council of Justice adopted decisions to submit recommendations to the President of Ukraine for the appointment of four judges to appellate courts, namely:
- Denys Voronkov — to the position of judge of the Sumy Court of Appeal;
- Iryna Kompaniiets — to the position of judge of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal;
- Kateryna Minaieva — to the position of judge of the Second Administrative Court of Appeal;
- Olha Turak — to the position of judge of the Zhytomyr Court of Appeal.
Working meeting on the online Congress of Judges of Ukraine: arguments “for” and “against”
Members of the High Council of Justice Oleksandr Sasevych, Roman Maselko, and Dmytro Lukianov took part in a working meeting to discuss the possibility of holding the Congress of Judges of Ukraine in an online format. The event was organized with the participation of representatives of the project “Supporting Ukraine’s Accession to the EU in the Area of the Rule of Law” (3*E4U), implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office.
Participants of the meeting proposed conducting a survey of the entire judiciary to determine judges’ attitudes toward holding the Congress in an online format.
More details are available via the link.
The review is available on the official website of the High Council of Justice in the section “Activities” – “Summaries / Reviews / Reports,” via the link: https://hcj.gov.ua/rubric/oglyady.
The judge is suspected of requesting, as an official holding a responsible position, the provision and receipt of an unlawful benefit for himself and third parties in exchange for actions taken in the interests of a third party using the authority granted to him, that is, of committing a criminal offense предусмотрене under Part Three of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On 1 and 3 December 2025, a Ukrainian delegation, which included HCJ member Olena Kovbii, took part in two international events in Brussels and Strasbourg. The events focused on the resilience of Ukraine’s justice system, the role of civil society, and the further reform of the judiciary.
Both events were organized with the support of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice,” implemented by Expertise France, at the premises of the Permanent Representation of France to the EU, with the participation of representatives of European Union institutions and the Council of Europe.
The events included a screening of the documentary film “In Your Name: Justice in Times of War,” which highlights the work of Ukrainian judges during the full-scale invasion and their role in defending Ukraine. One of the protagonists of the film is HCJ member Olena Kovbii. During the discussions, she shared her personal story and outlined the key priorities of the HCJ’s activities.
More details are available via the link.
At a meeting of the Standing Commission of the High Council of Justice on the Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System, issues related to the implementation of the Unified Judicial Information and Communication System (UJICS) were discussed.
In particular, recent video conferencing failures that led to the disruption of court hearings were addressed. The cause was overload and outdated equipment, rather than power outages. The State Judicial Administration of Ukraine plans to modernize the software and upgrade the technical equipment.
The Commission emphasized the critical importance of stable video communication and instructed the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine and the State Enterprise “ISS” to submit a plan to address the problems by 12 December 2025. The provision of courts with alternative energy sources was also discussed — the needs for operating courtrooms are largely covered.
Thanks to the support of SIDA, work on the development of the UJICS has been resumed. The project will last 2.5 years and is intended to ensure the full implementation of all system modules. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Commission approved amendments to the Regulation on registration in the “Electronic Court” system for entities without the status of a natural or legal person.
More details are available via the link.
At its meeting on 9 December 2025, the High Council of Justice considered the issue of interference by the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the investigation of possible facts of corruption or corruption-related offenses in law enforcement agencies, courts, and judicial authorities in the activities of the HCJ.
The decision notes that on 5 December 2025, four members of the HCJ received invitations/summonses to attend a meeting of the said Temporary Investigative Commission in order to provide explanations regarding the HCJ decision of 2 December 2025 No. 2583/0/15-25 “On taking measures to ensure the authority of justice following the appeal of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine,” its legal grounds and motives, as well as explanations regarding alleged violations of the law by members of the HQCJ during the competition for vacant positions in appellate courts.
In its decision, the HCJ also emphasized that the Temporary Investigative Commission is demanding explanations regarding procedures that are still ongoing and have not yet been completed. Such an approach creates a real risk of influencing their final outcome and therefore constitutes direct interference with the discretionary powers and institutional independence of the High Council of Justice.
More details are available via the link.
Activities of the HCJ Secretariat in figures, January–November 2025
Over the eleven months of 2025, the staff of the HCJ Secretariat processed 5,270 citizens’ appeals and 1,076 information requests, prepared 9,474 cover letters for sending copies of HCJ acts and acts of its bodies, issued 14,000 copies of acts of the HCJ, its bodies and members, and edited 26,817 pages of draft HCJ documents.
Between January and November 2025, the official website of the High Council of Justice published 6,554 HCJ acts, 2,596 other documents, and 628 news items.
A total of 1,439 informational materials were posted on the HCJ’s social media platforms.
In the “Press Center” section of the “Judiciary of Ukraine” web portal, 2,776 informational materials were published.
During this period, the HCJ telephone hotline at (044) 481-06-26 received 2,163 calls from citizens.
This was reported on 9 December 2025 on the official website of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe reviewed the progress achieved by Ukraine in executing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the Oleksandr Volkov group of cases concerning structural issues related to the independence of the judiciary and the system of judicial discipline and judicial careers (violations of the right to a fair trial and the right to respect for private life).
The Committee of Ministers positively noted the functioning of the reformed system governing judicial careers and disciplinary liability of judges. In view of the significant progress achieved, the Committee closed its supervision of the case Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine as the leading case in this group (Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2025)399).