Judicial System

Ukraine's judicial system was inherited from the Soviet Union and the former Ukrainian SSR. It had many of the problems which marred Soviet justice, and most notably a corrupt and politicised judiciary.

Ukraine adopted its Constitution on June 28, 1996. This document exclusively tasks the court system with the administration of justice.

The principles of delivering justice are declared in the Constitution of Ukraine. The most important principles are: justice is carried out solely by courts; delegation of the functions of a court as well as their assumption by other state bodies or state officials are inadmissible; extension of court jurisdiction over all legal relationships emerging in the state; judgments are binding over the entire territory of Ukraine.

The judicial system of Ukraine consists of courts of general jurisdiction and the court of constitutional jurisdiction. The courts of general jurisdiction specialize in civil, criminal, commercial, administrative cases and cases on administrative offences. The courts of general jurisdiction comprise general courts and specialized courts (commercial and administrative courts). The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest instance in the judicial system of courts of general jurisdiction. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the court of constitutional jurisdiction.

The delegation of court functions, as well as their usurpation by other bodies and officials is not allowed. Courts have jurisdiction over all legal relations, which develop in the state. The Constitution points out that the establishment of extraordinary and special courts is prohibited.

Under Article 125, the Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body for courts of general jurisdiction, while the “respective high courts are the highest judicial bodies of specialised courts” . Elsewhere in the Constitution, Article 126 sets nine different events that allow the removal of a judge, and that article also guarantees the independence and immunity of judges. The people participate directly in the administration of justice as jurors and people’s assessors.

The courts of general jurisdiction administer justice in the form of civil, commercial, administrative and criminal legislation. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a special judicial body of constitutional control.
 
Justice is administered by professional judges and, in cases overseen by the law, by people’s assessors and juries. The independence of judges is guaranteed by their immunity and their election by the Verkhovna Rada (The Parliament) permanently after their first appointment to the position of professional judge by the President of Ukraine for a five-year term.
 
The judicial system of Ukraine consists of four levels of courts of general jurisdiction, as follows:
 
Local courts of general jurisdiction (combining criminal and civil jurisdiction) consisting of:

- district, urban district and town courts;
- regional courts;
- city courts in Kyiv and Sevastopol;
- administrative local courts.
 
Courts of Appeals, consisting of:

- appeals court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- regional appeals courts;
- appeals courts of the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol;
- appeals court of the Ukrainian Navy;
- regional military appeals courts;
- economic appeals courts (known also as arbitration courts);
- administrative appeals courts.
 
High courts with specialized jurisdiction:

- The Appeals Court of Ukraine, covering civil, criminal and military cases;
- The High Administrative Court of Ukraine, covering administrative cases;
- The High Arbitration Court of Ukraine, covering economic and commercial cases;
- The Supreme Court, covering all cases.
 
The courts enjoy legal, financial and constitutional freedom guaranteed by measures adopted in Ukrainian law in 2002. Judges are protected from dismissal (except in instances of gross misconduct). Senior judges are nominated by parliament and are appointed by presidential decree for a period of five years, after which Ukraine's Supreme Council confirms them for life in an attempt to insulate them from politics. Although there are still problems with the performance of the system, it is considered to have improved since Ukraine's independence in 1991. The Supreme Court is regarded as being an independent and impartial body and has ruled against the Ukrainian government on several occasions.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body in the system of the courts of general jurisdiction. Decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine rendered according to the results of consideration of application for the revision of judgment on grounds of the unequal application by cassation court (courts) of the same norms of substantive law in similar legal relationships is obligatory for all legal entities applying in their activities the normative legal act containing the specified rules of law, as well as for all the Ukrainian courts

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Law of Ukraine “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine” adopted on October 16, 1996 sets forth that the task of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is to guarantee the supremacy of the Constitution of Ukraine as the Fundamental Law of the State throughout the territory of Ukraine.

The Court held its first session on October 22, 1996 and adopted its first decision on May 13, 1997.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine consists of eighteen judges. President of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Congress of Judges of Ukraine each appoint six judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine for a nine-year term.

The Court is headed by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine who is elected for a single three-year term from among judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
 
 
Historical Note
 
Major changes were made to the judicial system when the law "On the court system" was passed on 7 February 2002, creating a new level of judiciary and enacting institutional safeguards to insulate judges from political pressure.

The Ukrainian judiciary was substantially reformed in 2010. The Parliament has adopted the Law ‘On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges’ on July 7, 2010. Most of its enactment came into force on July 30, 2010. Some provisions, such as the introduction of the automatic case-flow and case-assignment system came into effect from January 1, 2011.

Several other laws were adopted by the Parliament, among which the Law “On Advocacy and Legal Practice in Ukraine” (July 5, 2012), and the Law “On amendments to some legal acts regarding the improvement of the functioning of the Office of the Public Prosecutor” (adopted September 18, 2012 coming into force on December 1, 2012). The main idea of the law is a significant restriction of the prosecutor’s powers bringing them in agreement with international standards.

Recent developments 

From 29 March 2015 the Ukrainian court system will be functioning under the new rules that will be applied with the newly adopted Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Right to a Fair Trial”. The powers of the Supreme Court will be enhanced and new rules will apply to the selection and disciplining of judges, in what is the first step in an expected major overhaul of the judicial system in Ukraine.

The changes were introduced when on 24 February 2015 the President of Ukraine signed the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Right to a Fair Trial”.

The Law improves accessibility to the Supreme Court of Ukraine by the parties of court process and introduces the binding effect of judgements rendered by the Supreme Court. In addition, the Law establishes transparent and competitive mechanism for the selection of candidates for the positions of judges. The measures of disciplinary liability of judges are extended and strengthened as well. The independence of judiciary is improved by introducing the new system of judicial self-governance, which is simple but much more efficient than it previously used to be. The Law sets mandatory rules that all the court judgements must be available online and that the court hearings may be video recorded without any special permissions from the judge. Overall, the Law is a firm step towards reforming of the existing court system of Ukraine in order to make it more transparent and assessable to the public.

The Law increases the requirements for the professional qualifications of judges. The High Qualification Commission of Judges is responsible for the initial selection of candidates, who must then be approved by the High Council of Justice of Ukraine. The President of Ukraine appoints judges for an initial 5-year term upon the recommendations of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine.

The Law also amends the rules on professional misconduct by judges. Professional misconduct now encompasses groundless refusal of access to justice, unmotivated rejection of parties’ arguments in a court decision, failure to notify the law enforcement authorities of influence on the judge by outside persons, etc. Only licensed attorneys admitted to the Bar can now file complaints against unlawful actions of a judge on behalf of a legal entity.

Disciplinary cases concerning judges of the local and appellate courts will be considered by the High Qualification Commission of Judges and the High Council of Justice will consider those involving judges of the higher courts and the Supreme Court. The  Law also extends the range of disciplinary sanctions applicable to judges, which now include a warning, reprimand, temporary removal from office (up to six months), transfer of a judge to a court of lower instance or the High Council of Justice filing a motion on complete removal from office (in cases of violation of the judicial oath).

The extension of the powers of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the grounds for review of court decisions by the Supreme Court may delay consideration of court cases. On the other hand, the parties will have more procedural tools to deal with an inconsistent or prejudiced approach by lower courts through revision by the Supreme Court.

The Law is expected to be the initial stage in a major overhaul of the Ukrainian judicial system. In particular, enhancing the powers of the Supreme Court will facilitate consistency of court practice and improve the predictability of the whole legal system. Amendments to the rules on selection of, and sanctions for, judges are expected to improve the professional attitude of judges.