The High Council of Justice upheld the warning to the WAC judge Viktor Maslov for an unspecified communication ban
The High Council of Justice left unchanged the decision of the First Disciplinary Chamber dated June 23, 2025, to hold the judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court Viktor Maslov disciplinarily liable. Thirteen members of the HCJ voted in favor, two against. HCJ member Oleksiy Melnyk announced that he is preparing a separate opinion.
Essence of the disciplinary offense
The disciplinary sanction is related to the ruling of investigating judge Maslov dated July 11, 2024, by which he granted the prosecutor's motion to extend the term of procedural obligations imposed on the suspect.
The judge imposed on the suspect the obligation to "refrain from communicating with any other persons" regarding the circumstances stated in the notice of suspicion (except for defenders, investigators, detectives, prosecutors, and the investigating judge himself).
According to the disciplinary body, such wording is unspecified and exceeds the powers provided for in part 5 of article 194 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The judge is obliged to clearly specify the particular persons with whom the suspect is prohibited from communicating. Establishing a ban on an unlimited circle of persons unjustifiably restricted the constitutional right of the suspect to defense (Article 59 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 20 of the CPC, Article 6 of the ECHR), created legal uncertainty, and artificial grounds for applying procedural coercive measures.
The First Disciplinary Chamber qualified the judge's actions under subparagraph "a" of paragraph 1 of part one of article 106 of Law No. 1402-VIII and applied a disciplinary sanction in the form of a warning.
Chronology of the review
- June 23, 2025 — The First Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ held the judge accountable and issued a warning.
- September 16, 2025 — The High Council of Justice left the chamber's decision unchanged.
- April 2, 2026 — The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court annulled the HCJ decision due to insufficient reasoning and sent the case for reconsideration.
- June 16, 2026 — After reconsideration, the HCJ finally upheld the disciplinary sanction.
During the new review, the HCJ took into account the position of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court regarding the assessment of previous decisions of disciplinary chambers on the refusal to open cases on similar complaints.
Positions of the parties at the HCJ meeting
The representative of the complaining lawyer emphasized the obvious violation of the CPC requirements, the judge's exceeding of powers, and the necessity to protect the suspect's right to defense.
Judge Viktor Maslov requested the annulment of the disciplinary body's decision, arguing that he acted within judicial discretion considering the circumstances of the case and referring to previous practice in the same proceeding.
Thus, the disciplinary sanction in the form of a warning applied to judge Viktor Maslov remains in force. The decision of the High Council of Justice has come into effect.
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