Two judges temporarily suspended from the administration of justice under decisions of the Disciplinary Chambers of the HCJ
The decision to bring the judge to disciplinary liability and impose disciplinary sanction in the form of submission on dismissal from office was adopted by the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ on April 1, 2026.
The decision to bring the judge to disciplinary liability and impose disciplinary sanction in the form of submission on dismissal from office was adopted by the Second Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ on April 8, 2026.
The period of suspension of judges from the administration of justice is until the High Council of Justice takes a decision to dismiss them from office or to overturn the decision of the Disciplinary Chamber.
The Second Annual Intergovernmental Conference, as part of the Ukrainian-Netherlands Dialogue to support Ukraine's integration into the European Union, was held in Breda (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
During the meeting of the working group on the rule of law and accountability, the Chairman of the High Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between the judicial governance bodies of Ukraine and the Netherlands. He noted that the practical implementation of the cooperation project with the Council for the Judiciary of the Netherlands is currently focused on developing and implementing the High Council of Justice’s multi-year strategy.
Among the key areas of work is the preparation of an action plan for optimizing the court network in Ukraine. This issue is particularly relevant in the context of Ukraine’s European integration commitments.
Following the results of the Second Annual Intergovernmental Conference, Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed a joint communiqué, which can be found at the link.
Submission of documents of candidates for members of the High Council of Justice from the Congress of Scientists has been completed
The Secretariat of the High Council of Justice has completed the acceptance of applications from candidates for election as members of the High Council of Justice by the Congress of Representatives of Higher Education and Research Institutions in the Area of Law.
Twelve persons submitted applications. The list is available in the section «Candidates to the HCJ».
HCJ dismissed five judges:
- Melnichuk Volodymyr Petrovychа – from the office of judge of the Sixth administrative court of appeal;
- Tsimbal Iryna Kostiantynivna – from the office of judge of the Darnytskyi district court of Kyiv;
- Zhyznievskyi Yurii Vasylovych – from the office of judge of the Zhytomyrskyi court of appeal;
- Denysiuk Petro Dmytrovych – from the office of judge of the Rivnenskyi local court of Rivne region;
- Pylypchuk Lidiia Ivanivna – from the office of judge of the Poltavskyi court of Appeal.
HCJ will make submission to the President of Ukraine on appointment of three judges to courts of appeal and one judge to local court
On April 7, 2026 the HCJ took decision on making submissions to the President of Ukraine on appointment of three judges to office in courts of appeal and one judge to local court, namely:
- Sakoian Dmytro Ivanovych – to the position of judge of the Zaporizhzhia court of appeal;
- Suprun Oleksandr Petrovych – to the position of judge of the Chernihivskyi court of appeal;
- Chernopiatov Stanislav Volodymyrovych – to the position of judge of the Chernihivskyi court of appeal;
- Hlomb Yurii Oleksandrovych – to the position of judge of the Rivnenskyi circuit administrative court.
Members of the High Council of Justice joined the discussion on improving ethical standards for judges, prosecutors, and lawyers
Members of the HCJ Alla Kotelevets and Oleh Kandziuba participated in the roundtable discussion entitled “Interinstitutional dialogue on ethical standards and challenges in the professions forming part of or related to the justice system. Common and divergent approaches in disciplinary proceedings of bodies exercising disciplinary jurisdiction” held on April 3, 2026. The event was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine – Phase II”.
The participants in the event—representatives of bodies responsible for disciplinary proceedings in the justice sector—discussed key ethical standards, practical aspects of applying codes of ethics, and current challenges in disciplinary practice.
Following the roundtable, participants outlined approaches to improving ethical standards and discussed a draft of the final document.
More details – at the link.
Activity of the HCJ Secretariat in figures for January-March, 2026
During the first quarter of 2026, the staff of the Secretariat of the High Council of Justice processed 1636 citizens’ appeals and 246 information requests; the HCJ telephone hotline at (044) 481-06-26 received 600 calls from citizens.
The staff of the HCJ Secretariat:
- prepared 2973 cover letters for sending copies of HCJ acts and acts of its bodies;
- issued 4942 copies of acts of the HCJ, its bodies, and members;
- edited 7665 pages of draft HCJ documents.
Between January and March 2026, the official website of the High Council of Justice published: 1304 HCJ acts, 673 other documents, and 158 news items; on the HCJ’s social media platforms 357 informational materials were posted.
In the “Press Center” section of the “Judiciary of Ukraine” web portal, 726 informational materials were published.
HCJ temporarily suspended from the administration of justice judge of the Siverskodonetskyi local court of Luhansk region, seconded to the Storozhynetskyi district court of Chernivtsi region
On April 9, 2026, the High Council of Justice temporarily suspended, until June 9, 2026, a judge of the Sieverskodonetskyi local court of Luhansk region (seconded to the Storozhynetskyi district court of Chernivtsi region) from the administration of justice, due to bringing judge to criminal prosecution.
The decision was made following consideration of a petition of the Deputy Prosecutor General and Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Oleksandr Klymenko.
HCJ dismissed judge of the Berdychivskyi local-district court of Zhytomyr region, who, by results of qualification evaluation was recognized as such, who does not comply with the office held
On April 9, 2026, the HCJ during its session took a decision to dismiss Shcherbak Denys Serhiiovych from the office of judge of the Berdychivskyi local-district court of Zhytomyr region based on sub-item 4 of item 16¹ Chapter ХV “Transitional provisions” of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The decision was made according to the submission with recommendation from the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, which stated that by the results of qualification evaluation of judges of local courts Shcherbak Denys Serhiiovych was recognized as such who does not comply with the office held.
HCJ adopted a public appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the proper funding and conditions for the functioning of courts, bodies, and institutions of the justice system
To ensure the judicial independence and the authority of the judiciary in terms of the proper funding and conditions for the functioning of courts, bodies, and institutions of the justice system, on April 9, 2026, the High Council of Justice adopted a public appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The full text of the public appeal, approved by the decision of the HCJ dated 09.04.2026 № 647/0/15-26 – at the link