The Council of Judges Agreed to Increase the Number of Assistants for the First Three Courts
The Council of Judges of Ukraine supported the decision of the judges' assemblies of three district courts to increase the number of assistants to two per one judge.
First decisions under the new rules
Recall that on February 12, 2026, the Council of Judges of Ukraine amended the Regulations on the Judge's Assistant. The updated document allows, in exceptional cases, doubling the staff of assistants (up to two per one judge), if there is a corresponding decision of the judges' assemblies and approval from the Council of Judges of Ukraine.
During the meeting, the Council members reviewed and voted to approve the decisions of the assemblies of three institutions:
- Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv (based on the assembly decision dated 16.09.2025);
- Kyiv District Court of Odesa;
- Komunarskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia.
The decision regarding the courts will be officially sent to the State Judicial Administration (SJA) of Ukraine for further practical implementation. The increase in the limit applies to each judge who actually administers justice, while additional assistants of the court chairman and his deputies are not included in this count.
Position of the SJA and the scale of the request
As noted by the presenter during the meeting, additional assistants cannot fully solve the global problem of staff shortages among the judges themselves. However, this step will significantly increase work efficiency, improve the quality of judicial decision preparation, and speed up case consideration.
This initiative has enormous demand within the judicial system. So far, the Council of Judges has already received 46 similar requests from courts of various jurisdictions. To satisfy all these requests, approximately 320 additional staff positions will be needed.
Position of the State Judicial Administration
The SJA representative emphasized that the agency fully supports expanding the staff of assistants to two per each active judge. At the same time, an important caveat was expressed: such approval should operate exclusively within the relevant budget period.
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