Two judges were temporarily suspended from the administration of justice on the basis of decisions of the First Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ.
Judge Volodymyr Baitaliuk of the Commercial Court of Chernivtsi Region was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice pursuant to a decision of the First Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ. 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 19 January 2026.
Judge Yurii Bobrov of the Ivano-Frankivsk District Administrative Court was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice pursuant to a decision of the First Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ. 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 26 January 2026.
On 19 January 2026, the HCJ returned without consideration a motion filed by the Deputy Prosecutor General — Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office — seeking to extend the period of temporary suspension from the administration of justice of a judge of the Prymorskyi District Court of the City of Odesa in connection with criminal prosecution.
This decision was taken because the Deputy Prosecutor General — Head of the SAPO — submitted the motion to the HCJ to extend the period of temporary suspension of the judge of the Prymorskyi District Court of the City of Odesa from the administration of justice after the expiration of the time limit established by law. Under the applicable legal provisions, this circumstance precludes consideration of the motion and constitutes grounds for returning it without consideration.
The HCJ dismissed five judges upon resignation:
- Novikova Halyna Valentynivna — from the position of judge of the Donetsk Court of Appeal (seconded to the Dnipro Court of Appeal);
- Chernushenko Anton Vasylovych — from the position of judge of the Kyiv Court of Appeal;
- Kysylova Olha Yosypivna — from the position of judge of the Kherson District Administrative Court (seconded to the Lviv District Administrative Court);
- Cherenkova Nataliia Petrivna — from the position of judge of the Tsentralnyi District Court of the City of Mykolaiv;
- Smyrnov Valerii Volodymyrovych — from the position of judge of the Chornomorsk City Court of Odesa Region.
On 20 January 2026, the HCJ adopted a decision to submit to the President of Ukraine a recommendation for the appointment of Andrii Didyk to the position of judge of the Zarichne District Court of Rivne Region.
Oksana Kvasha took part in the opening of initial training for judges of appellate courts.
Acting Head of the HCJ Oksana Kvasha participated in the opening of the initial training programme for judges of appellate courts who do not have prior experience as judges.
Oksana Kvasha noted that the absence of previous judicial experience may be not only a challenge but also an advantage, as newly appointed judges can contribute to the renewal of the judiciary. She expressed confidence that cooperation with judges who have extensive professional experience will be useful and productive.
Meeting of the HCJ Working Group: further steps to strengthen guarantees of judicial independence.
A meeting of the HCJ Working Group on ensuring judicial independence and the authority of justice was held under the chairmanship of HCJ member Oleksandr Sasevych.
Participants discussed the implementation of the Roadmap on the rule of law measure entitled “Analysis of the state of observance of the independence of judges and prosecutors, current threats, the effectiveness of existing measures, and the presentation of necessary legislative and institutional improvements aimed at strengthening independence on the basis of this analysis,” the deadline for which is set for the first quarter of 2026.
During the meeting, it was noted that Ukraine participated for the first time in a survey conducted by the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary on judicial independence, the purpose of which was to assess the state of judicial independence in Europe.
The HCJ terminated a judge’s retirement due to the entry into force of a conviction.
On 22 January 2026, the HCJ decided to terminate the retirement of Judge Borys Plotnitskyi due to the entry into force of a guilty verdict against him for committing intentional crimes.
On 27 January 2026, the HCJ adopted a decision to dismiss Liubov Nemchenko from the position of judge of the Commercial Court of Kherson Region (seconded to the Commercial Court of Odesa Region) on the basis of paragraph 3 of part six of Article 126 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The implementation of this procedure was carried out on the basis of a submission by the Second Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ, which decided to hold the judge disciplinarily liable and to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of a submission for dismissal from office.
During 2025, the High Council of Justice (HCJ) adopted decisions to dismiss 226 judges
Under general grounds, 186 judges were dismissed, namely:
- 174 judges — in connection with the submission of resignation letters;
- 12 local court judges — in connection with resignation upon personal request.
Under special grounds, the High Council of Justice dismissed 40 judges, namely:
- 30 judges — for committing significant disciplinary misconduct;
- 10 judges — on the basis of subparagraph 4 of paragraph 16¹ of Section XV “Transitional Provisions” of the Constitution of Ukraine, pursuant to submissions with recommendations from the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ).
In 2025, the HCJ decided to submit to the President of Ukraine recommendations for the appointment of 161 candidates to judicial positions, including:
- 54 judges to local general courts;
- 4 judges to local commercial courts;
- 1 judge to local administrative courts;
- 28 judges to appellate general courts;
- 41 judges to appellate commercial courts;
- 31 judges to appellate administrative courts;
- 2 judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Activities of the HCJ Secretariat in figures for January–December 2025
During 2025, the staff of the HCJ Secretariat processed 5,876 citizens’ appeals and 1,172 information requests; prepared 10,764 cover letters for sending copies of HCJ acts and acts of its bodies; issued 16,156 copies of acts of the HCJ, its bodies, and members; and edited 29,877 pages of draft HCJ documents.
During this period, 2,390 calls were received via the HCJ telephone hotline at (044) 481-06-26.
In 2025, the official website of the HCJ published 7,232 HCJ acts, 2,863 other documents, and 694 news items. A total of 1,595 informational materials were posted on the HCJ’s social media platforms.
More than 3,000 informational materials were published in the “Press Center” section of the “Judiciary of Ukraine” web portal.
The HCJ is working on updating standards for staffing and material and technical support of courts.
The standards for staffing, financial, and material and technical support of courts, as well as the methodology for calculating the number of judges in courts of first and appellate instances, are dynamic documents that must be amended, supplemented, and improved, as life and judicial practice introduce new adjustments.
Currently, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the HCJ, and the Council of Judges of Ukraine are jointly collecting and analyzing information to determine the required number of judges. This process will take into account the dynamics of competitive selection procedures conducted by the HQCJ of Ukraine, as well as judges reaching the mandatory retirement age, after which their powers to administer justice are terminated.
In 2025, 118 judges were held disciplinarily liable
Following the consideration of disciplinary cases, the Disciplinary Chambers of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) adopted 115 decisions in 2025 to hold 118 judges disciplinarily liable and to impose the following types of disciplinary sanctions:
- warning — imposed on 59 judges;
- reprimand with deprivation of the right to receive salary supplements for one month — imposed on 18 judges;
- severe reprimand with deprivation of the right to receive salary supplements for three months — imposed on 6 judges;
- motion for temporary suspension from the administration of justice (from one to six months) — submitted in respect of 2 judges;
- motion for dismissal — submitted in respect of 33 judges.
During 2025, the HCJ reviewed 237 reports of interference in the professional activities of judges.
The NACP approved amendments to the Anti-Corruption Program of the High Council of Justice for 2026–2028. The relevant decision was adopted on 27 January 2026 following an analysis of the submitted materials.
The NACP confirmed that the amendments to the Anti-Corruption Program, approved by the decision of the High Council of Justice of 8 January 2026 No. 8/0/15-26, comply with the requirements of the legislation and the Procedure for submission of anti-corruption programs and amendments thereto for approval by the NACP, as well as the procedure for their approval.