The High Council of Justice will continue reviewing the case of judges from Vinnytsia who charged a court fee from a 77-year-old disabled man

The Third Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice, during the consideration of the disciplinary case regarding judges of the Vinnytsia Court of Appeal Oleksandr Panasyuk, Oleksandr Berehovyi, and Taras Sal, opened based on the complaint of V.D. Kryklyvyi, did not support the conclusion of the disciplinary inspector to refuse to hold the mentioned judges disciplinarily liable.

Two members of the DC HCJ voted for this decision, and two voted against it.

Circumstances of the case

The basis for the disciplinary complaint was the ruling of the Vinnytsia Court of Appeal dated May 27, 2021, in case No. 125/1596/20, adopted with the participation of judges Oleksandr Panasyuk (presiding), Oleksandr Berehovyi, and Taras Sal.

The complainant, a 77-year-old disabled man, filed a lawsuit against a neighbor who, during the apartment remodeling without proper permits, violated the airtightness of the ventilation duct. This led to combustion products of gas entering the plaintiff's apartment, deteriorating air quality and posing a health risk.

The Barsky District Court of Vinnytsia region partially satisfied the claim, including awarding the plaintiff moral damages of UAH 18,250. The defendant filed an appeal. The Vinnytsia Court of Appeal changed the first-instance court's decision regarding the distribution of court costs and charged the complainant a court fee for the appeal in the amount of UAH 2,522.40.

During the enforcement proceedings, an enforcement fee and other expenses were additionally charged to the plaintiff.

Position of the Third Disciplinary Chamber

The Chamber established that the complainant is a person with a disability, as confirmed by the case materials. According to paragraph 9 of part one of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees," such persons are exempt from paying court fees at all instances. If a decision is made against them, the paid fee must be reimbursed by the state.

Despite this, the appellate court panel charged the fee directly to the complainant. The Chamber noted that this cost allocation procedure had already been applied by this court under the chairmanship of judge Oleksandr Panasyuk in other cases.

The Third Disciplinary Chamber concluded that the unjustified collection of the court fee could have led to significant negative consequences for the complainant. The amount collected was over 41% of his average monthly declared income. The Chamber referred to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, particularly the case "Pietka v. Poland," where even minor financial losses for vulnerable categories of persons were recognized as significant harm.

On April 15, 2026, the Third DC HCJ opened a disciplinary case against the judges of the Vinnytsia Court of Appeal because the judges' actions may contain signs of disciplinary offenses, namely:

• subparagraph "a" of paragraph 1 part 1 of article 106 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" (other significant violation of procedural law that made it impossible to realize procedural rights);
• paragraph 4 part 1 of article 106 (gross violation of the law that led to significant negative consequences).

The disciplinary case review is ongoing. The final decision regarding holding judges Oleksandr Panasyuk, Oleksandr Berehovyi, and Taras Sal disciplinarily liable has not yet been made.

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