Ukraine Faces Urgent Need for Judges Amid Long-overdue Reform Efforts

Ukrainian judges like Vira Levko, based in the capital Kyiv, are grappling with exceedingly high caseloads, a situation that often leaves foreign colleagues astonished. “They don’t understand how a judge can hold so much information in their head,” Levko remarked at the Dniprovskyi district court.

Ukraine’s pressing need for judges is exacerbated by the backlog of cases, which has significantly delayed justice for many Ukrainians and obstructed the establishment of the rule of law—a crucial condition for Ukraine’s potential future membership in the European Union.

Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized Ukraine’s aspiration to join the EU. This commitment has underscored the fight against corruption and the need for good governance.

However, a recent poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre think-tank in Kyiv revealed that just 18% of Ukrainians trust the country’s courts. This trust deficit is largely a consequence of a judicial system undermined by corruption over the years.

The European Commission noted in a 2022 memo that “The judiciary continues to be regarded as one of the least trusted and credible institutions.”

Efforts to reform the judiciary, initiated after the 2014 Maidan Revolution that shifted Ukraine towards a pro-Western orientation, faced significant resistance, causing approximately 2,600 vacancies—equivalent to around one-third of the judiciary—as judges either retired or were dismissed.

This vacancy crisis has led to mounting court cases across the country, with some courtrooms transformed into storage spaces filled with stacks of case files.

Ukraine’s efforts to rectify the situation have been further complicated by the ongoing war, which has added an additional burden, with around 100,000 alleged Russian crimes already under investigation.

Under EU pressure, two governance bodies responsible for hiring and disciplining judges were recently reactivated, aiming to fill roughly 1,100 vacancies at the appeals and local court levels in the coming months.

Ruslan Sydorovych, deputy head of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), which oversees judge selection, referred to this as the initial step in a comprehensive “super marathon” of hiring, a process that could extend over several years and potentially involve up to 7,000 interviews.

However, the challenge extends beyond recruitment. Approximately 2,000 sitting judges require integrity checks, part of a judicial clean-up effort initiated but never fully completed after the Maidan Revolution.

Halyna Chyzhyk, a member of a civic advisory council monitoring judges, suggested that authorities should not rush the process if the priority is on ensuring quality. “If the priority is on (ensuring) quality, then you’ll need to sacrifice a bit of speed, and I think Ukrainian society understands that,” she noted.

Ensuring the independence of Ukraine’s top courts from political influence is another formidable task. Some judges have been implicated in facilitating corruption and violating human rights or have been associated with Russia. Mykhailo Zhernakov, of the DEJURE Foundation, an NGO in Kyiv, highlighted concerns, saying, “We have judges who helped raid billions in property, who massively violated human rights, who hold Russian citizenship and actively helped Russia in the first days of the war.”

The overhaul of the judiciary coincides with broader efforts to combat corruption and uphold the principles of democracy in Ukraine. Tolerance for official misconduct is waning, particularly when tens of thousands have made sacrifices to defend Ukraine’s fragile democracy.

A recent survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 89% of Ukrainians consider corruption, apart from the war, as the most serious problem facing their country.

While judges like Vira Levko are dedicated to serving the public and addressing pressing issues like domestic violence, high-profile scandals, including the arrest of the former head of the Supreme Court on bribery charges, continue to tarnish the profession and divert attention from the vital work Ukraine’s courts carry out.