Overview of the results of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in December 2025

OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS

OF THE HIGH QUALIFICATION COMMISSION OF JUDGES OF UKRAINE

December 2025

Procedures of the judicial career

Selection for the position of a local court judge

The review of practical work in administrative, commercial, and general specialisations is ongoing as part of the qualification exam for candidates for the position of local court judge and judges who have expressed their intention to be transferred to another local court.

Competition for the High Anti-Corruption Court

The review of 170 practical assignments performed by candidates has been completed. The results of the fourth stage of the qualification exam within the competition for vacant positions of judges in the High Anti-Corruption Court have been approved.

87 candidates were admitted to the practical assignment.

73 candidates successfully completed the practical assignment.

[more]

Competition for the courts of appeal

General statistics of the competition for the courts of appeal

	by specialisation
stage	administrative	commercial	criminal	civil	*TOTAL*
submitted applications (1 candidate did not choose a specialisation)	191	185	912	787	2 076
admitted to the competition and qualification assessment	173	160	821	687	1 841
successfully passed a test on knowledge of law and the specialisation of the relevant court	132	134	703	619	1 588
successfully passed a cognitive abilities test	105	98	507	410	1 120
successfully completed practical assignment	67	83	452	255	857
candidate ratings approved	43	60	113		216
declared winners of the competition and recommended for appointment	42	55	81		178
interviews are ongoing	completed	completed	513

On December 10, 2025, the Commission took a decision to approve the ranking of candidates for vacant positions of judges in the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal based on the results of the qualification assessment within the competition and determined 16 winners of the competition, of whom: 13 are judges of local courts; 1 person has experience working as a judge; 1 person has experience as a professional lawyer; 1 person has experience as a professional lawyer and is a scientist. Among the winners of the competition, 4 candidates have a scientific degree, and 1 candidate also has an academic title.

List of winners of the competition to the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal:

1. Dmytro Bredun, a judge of the Khortytskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

2. Tetіana Brus, has experience as a professional lawyer.

3. Lidiia Klymenko, a judge of the Oleksandrivskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

4. Kristina Kolomarenko, a judge of the Dniprovskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

5. Daryna Kolts, a judge of the Oleksandrivskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

6. Tetiana Kononenko, a judge of the Pavlohradskyi City-District Court of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

7. Lidiia Kravchenko, has experience working as a judge.

8. Kostiantyn Mashkov, has experience as a professional lawyer and scientist.

9. Roman Minhazov, a judge of the Zaporizkyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

10. Volodymyr Nikitin, a judge of the Zaporizkyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

11. Olha Pohribna, a judge of the Tokmatskyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

12. Dmytro Sakoian, a judge of the Zaporizkyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

13. Liliia Saltan, a judge of the Khortytskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

14. Ruslan Sinielnik, a judge of the Zavodskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

15. Roman Solodovnikov, a judge of the Kamianskyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

16. Roman Kholod, a judge of the Komunarskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City.

On December 10, 2025, the Commission took a decision approving the ranking of candidates for vacant positions of judges in the Chernihiv Court of Appeal based on the results of the qualification assessment within the competition and determined 22 winners of the competition, of which: 18 are judges of local courts; 3 have experience as professional lawyers; 1 person is a scientist. Among the winners of the competition, 2 candidates have a scientific degree, and 1 candidate also has an academic title.

List of winners of the competition to the Chernihiv Court of Appeal:

Oleksandr Avramenko, a judge of the Oleksandriiskyi City-Raion Court of Kirovohrad Oblast.
Maksym Hurenko, a judge of the Iziumskyi City-Raion Court of Kharkiv Oblast.
Oleksandr Husach, a judge of the Avtozavodskyi District Court of Kremenchuk Town of Poltava Oblast.
Olena Karaputa, a judge of the Koriukivskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast.
Vadym Karun, has experience as a professional lawyer.
Stanislav Kyrychok, a judge of the Hadiatskyi Raion Court of Poltava Oblast.
Andrii Kuksiuk, has experience as a professional lawyer.
Mykhailo Kutsenko, a judge of the Enerhodarskyi Town Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Volodymyr Lebezhenko, a judge of the Druzhkivskyi Town Court of Donetsk Oblast.
Oleksandr Luhovets, a judge of the Borznianskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast.
Oleksandr Liubchyk, a judge of the Bakhmutskyi City-Raion Court of Donetsk Oblast.
Serhii Mazur, a judge of the Hlukhivskyi City-Raion Court of Sumy Oblast.
Alla Olefir, a judge of the Hlobynskyi Raion Court of Poltava Oblast.
Maksym Oliinyk, a judge of the Mykhailivskyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Oksana Parfenenko, a judge of the Menskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast.
Olena Prachuk, a judge of the Shostkynskyi City-Raion Court of Sumy Oblast.
Oleksandra Razghuliaieva, a judge of the Nyzhnosirohozkyi Raion Court of Kherson Oblast.
Viktor Serebrianikov, has experience working as a lawyer.
Dmytro Syvolap, a judge of the Shyshatskyi Raion Court of Poltava Oblast.
Andrii Stelmakh, a judge of the Sosnytskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast.
Oleksandr Suprun, a judge of the Desnianskyi District Court of Chernihiv City.
Stanislav Chernopiatov, scientist.

Based on the results of the competition announced on September 14, 2023 to fill vacant positions of judges in courts of appeal, in December the Commission decided to submit to the High Council of Justice a recommendation to appoint 10 candidates to the positions of judges of the Transcarpathian Court of Appeal, 16 candidates for judges of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal, and 22 candidates for judges of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal.

In December, the Commission interviewed 18 candidates for positions of judges in general courts of appeal:

- 7 candidates confirmed their ability to administer justice (1 in the Kyiv Court of Appeal, 5 in the Lviv Court of Appeal, and 1 in the Odesa Court of Appeal);

- interviews with 8 candidates will be held in the plenary session of the Commission (3 in the Kyiv Court of Appeal, 2 in the Lviv Court of Appeal, and 3 in the Odesa Court of Appeal).

[more] – (in Ukrainian)

Competition to the Specialised Circuit Administrative Court and the Specialised Administrative Court of Appeal

From December 1 to 23, 2025, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine received documents from 225 persons who expressed their intention to participate in the competition for 17 vacant positions of judges of the Specialised Circuit Administrative Court, and from 131 persons for 10 vacant positions of judges of the Specialised Administrative Court of Appeal (announced on October 29, 2025).

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Secondments

12 reports were received from the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine regarding secondments.

The following issues were considered regarding secondments of judges:

- to 9 courts due to excessive caseloads;

- from 2 courts due to a change in the territorial jurisdiction of court cases.

The issue of early termination of judges’ secondment and simultaneous secondment of one judge was considered.

It was recommended to send judges to the following courts:

- to the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv City (1 judge);

- to the Novozavodskyi District Court of Chernihiv City (1 judge).

Qualification assessment

of a judge’s suitability for the position held and in connection with the imposition of disciplinary sanctions

Interviews were conducted with 5 judges:

Kateryna Barabash, Kamianets-Podilskyi City-Raion Court of Khmelnytskyi Oblast – suitable for the position held;
Oleksandr Hutsaliuk, Kherson City Court of Kherson Oblast – is not suitable for the position held;
Andrii Didyk, Zarichnenskyi Raion Court of Rivne Oblast – suitable for the position held;
Uliana Mirinovych, Ternopil Circuit Administrative Court – is not suitable for the position held;
Rudyk Ilarion, Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv City – is not suitable for the position held.

The assessment of 14 judges has been terminated:

- due to confirmation of their ability to administer justice in the general court of appeal

(considered to have confirmed their suitability for their positions) – 13:

Oleksandr Husach, Avtozavodskyi District Court of Kremenchuk Town of Poltava Oblast;
Stanislav Kyrychok, Hadiatskyi Raion Court of Poltava Oblast;
Kateryna Kotelva, Halytskyi District Court of Lviv City;
Yurii Kutovyi, Koriukivskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast;
Volodymyr Lebezhenko, Druzhkivskyi Town Court of Donetsk Oblast;
Oleksandr Luhovets, Borznianskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast;
Andrii Mirosiedi, Kostiantynivskyi City-Raion Court of Donetsk Oblast;
Maksym Oliinyk, Mykhailivskyi Raion Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast;
Oksana Parfenenko, Menskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast;
Liliia Saltan, Khortytskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City;
Ruslan Sinielnik, Zavodskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City;
Andrii Stelmakh, Sosnytskyi Raion Court of Chernihiv Oblast;
Roman Kholod, Komunarskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia City;

- in connection with dismissal from the position of judge – 1:

Volodymyr Hutsol, Bershadskyi Raion Court of Vinnytsia Oblast.

Important decisions of the Commission

On December 01, 2025, the Commission approved the exam programmes (stage) and taxonomic characteristics of anonymous tests for conducting qualification exams during the qualification assessment of candidates for the positions of judges of the Specialised Circuit Administrative Court and the Specialised Administrative Court of Appeal within the framework of competitions announced by the Commission’s decisions of October 29, 2025.

[more]

Data on the accounting of judges’ positions

The report includes data:

on the creation of 75 new vacant judicial positions:

in local courts – 71:

local general courts – 34 (resignation [15], paragraph 3 of part six of Article 126 of the Constitution of Ukraine [2]; personal desire [1]; appointed to the position of judge of the court of appeal [16]);
local commercial courts – 22 (appointed to the position of judge of the court of appeal [22]);
local administrative courts – 15 (appointed to the position of judge of the court of appeal [14]; death of a judge [1]);

in courts of appeal – 4:

general courts of appeal (resignation [4]);

on filling 74 vacant positions:

in local courts – 3:

local general courts – 2;
local commercial courts – 1;

in courts of appeal – 71:

general courts of appeal – 24;
commercial courts of appeal – 30;
administrative courts of appeal – 17;

The report includes data on the renewal of the judge’s position:

Commercial Court of Kyiv City [1].

[more] – (in Ukrainian)

Sessions

28 sessions were held, of which:

in plenary composition – 7;
in chamber composition – 3;
in Panel composition – 18.

[more] – (in Ukrainian)

127 decisions of the Commission were taken, of which:

on selection and appointment of judge – 9;
on transfer (secondment) of judges – 11;
on qualification assessment of judges – 10;
on holding a competition for positions of judges of high specialised courts – 1;
on holding a competition for positions of judges of courts of appeal – 79;
on general issues – 17.

[more] – (in Ukrainian)

Participation in the events

December 02–07, 2025 – Special meeting of the Network of Ukrainian Experts on the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, organised by the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (French Republic).

December 03, 2025 – online consultations with the OSCE ODIHR on a model questionnaire for consultations on the situation in administrative justice in Ukraine.

December 10, 12, 19, 2025 – training on improving the quality of decisions taken by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine by improving their motivational component, organised by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

December 12, 2025 – joint strategic session of members of the HQCJ and the PIC, organised by the EU Project “Pravo-Justice” with the aim of defining common strategic priorities and goals for 2026.

December 25, 2025 – coordination meeting on problematic issues identified in the course of developing the draft National Programme for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to European Union Law (EU acquis) chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka.

Legal disputes

The Commission’s interests were represented in 94 Supreme Court sessions.

In favour of the Commission, the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court (CAC SC) took the following decisions:

In cases No. 990/231/25 on the claim of Shvets, No. 990/146/25 on the claim of Honcharov,
No. 990/214/25 on the claim of Kulinich, No. 990/228/25 on the claim of Poberеzhna,
No. 990/209/25 on the claim of Pishchulina, No. 990/208/25 on the claim of Malakhovska,
No. 990/110/25 on the claim of Holubova, No. 990/152/25 on the claim of Kuzan, on the recognition of the illegality and cancellation of the decision, the obligation to take action (competition for courts of appeal: approval of the results of the practical assignment) and No. 990/305/25 on the claim of Brehei on the recognition of inaction as unlawful, the obligation to take certain actions (competition for courts of appeal, qualification exam).
In cases No. 990/316/25 on the claim of Babenko and No. 990/314/25 on the claim of Zinchenko on the recognition of the illegality of the decision, obligation to perform actions (selection, admission).
In cases No. 990/464/25 on the claim of Kulakivskyі, No. 990/549/25 on the claim of Bernatska,
No. 990/439/25 on the claim of Ostrichenko on the recognition of the illegality of the decision, the obligation to perform actions and No. 990/494/25 on the claim of Manzhaiuk regarding the recognition of inaction as unlawful and the obligation to perform certain actions (selection, qualification exam).
In case No. 990/502/25 on the claim of Kosenko on the recognition of the illegality and cancellation of the decision, the obligation to take action (competition for the HACC, admission).
In case No. 990/103/25 on the claim of Sheiko on recognition of the illegality and cancellation of the decision, obligation to take actions and No. 990/365/24 on the claim of Khramtsov, in which the CAC SC closed the proceedings in the case (qualification assessment).

At the same time, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, in its relevant resolutions:

1. In case No. 990/186/24, the Commission’s appeal against the decision of the CAC SC of May 19, 2025 on the claim of Dutkovskyі against the Commission for the recognition of the illegality and cancellation of the decision, the obligation to take certain actions, was upheld and the decision of the court of first instance was cancelled (selection, interview).

2. In case No. 990/50/24, the Commission’s appeal against the decision of the CAC SC of June 03, 2025 on the claim of Halatina against the Commission for the recognition of the illegality and cancellation of decisions in part was partially upheld and the reasoning part of the decision of the court of first instance was changed (appeal against certain provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission).

3. In case No. 990/290/25 on the claim of Karakashіan, the plaintiff’s appeal against the decision of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court dated 20.08.2025 was dismissed (qualification assessment).

4. In cases No. 990/221/25 on the claim of Mostetska and No. 990/216/25 on the claim of Ryzhyі, the Commission’s appeals against the decisions of the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court within the Supreme Court, which recognised the Commission’s decisions as unlawful and overturned them, and obliged to take certain actions, were upheld, and the decision of the court of first instance was overturned (competition for the courts of appeal: approval of the results of the practical assignment).

5. In case No. 990/152/24 on the claim of Bila-Kyselova, the plaintiff’s appeal against the decision of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court was dismissed (inaction).

6. In case No. 990/211/25 on the claim of Rachynskyi, the plaintiff’s appeal against the decision of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court dated 04.09.2025 was dismissed (selection, admission).

7. In case No. 990/246/25 on the claim of Mahda, the plaintiff’s appeal against the decision of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court dated 23.09.2025 was dismissed (inaction).

Document flow

Documents were processed:

2 027 – incoming;
1 349 – outgoing.

1 349 inquiries and appeals were reviewed:

11 lawyer’s requests;
90 requests for information;
53 appeals;
1 195 other inquiries.

Assistance in the implementation of judicial career procedures will be gladly provided, and proposals for improving Commission’s work will be considered!

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