21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine: The Supreme Court and Local Courts of Kyiv Have Already Elected Delegates

Preparations for the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine, scheduled for September 2, 2026, are gaining momentum. The importance of timely formation of authorized judicial governance bodies is hard to overestimate, and now this process has moved to the practical stage: local courts of Kyiv and the Supreme Court have already elected their delegates.

The Congress of Judges of Ukraine is the highest body of judicial self-governance. It is not just a ceremonial gathering but a constitutionally defined mechanism through which the judicial community participates in state governance.

According to Article 129 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges," the Congress is vested with exclusive powers:

• Appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
• Election of members of the High Council of Justice (HCJ).
• Hearing reports from the Council of Judges of Ukraine, information from the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine regarding the financial support of courts.
• Election of the Council of Judges of Ukraine — the executive body operating between congresses.

Decisions of the Congress are binding for all judicial self-governance bodies and all judges in Ukraine.

Delegate Election Procedure: How the Congress of Judges is Formed

The law defines a clear procedure for forming delegations to the Congress of Judges of Ukraine to ensure proportional representation of all levels of the judicial system.

For local general courts, a two-level procedure is provided. At the first stage, meetings of judges of each court elect delegates to joint meetings of judges of the respective region or the city of Kyiv based on the quota of one delegate per ten judges. Judges holding administrative positions (court chair or deputy) cannot be elected as delegates.

At the second stage, these joint meetings of judges of the regions and the city of Kyiv elect delegates directly to the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.

Separate rules apply to other levels of the judicial system. Appellate, commercial, and administrative courts elect one delegate per every 20 judges directly at judges' meetings. Higher specialized courts delegate three representatives each, and the Supreme Court elects its delegates at a Plenum meeting.

At the same time, the law establishes several restrictions. Delegates cannot be judges holding administrative positions, members of the High Council of Justice, or members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. In all cases, elections are conducted by secret ballot on an alternative basis.

Judges of Local General Courts of Kyiv Have Already Determined Their Delegates

In July 2026, joint meetings of judges of local general courts of Kyiv were held, during which delegates to the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine were elected.

Representatives of ten district courts of the capital participated in the meetings. For 12 quota places, 26 candidates were nominated.

As a result of secret voting, 12 judges were elected as delegates to represent the Obolonsky, Podilskyi, Darnytskyi, Solomianskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Desnianskyi, Pecherskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Holosiivskyi district courts of Kyiv.

Delegates elected to the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine are:

• Taras Andreychuk — judge of the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv;
• Tetyana Voytenko — judge of the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Oleksiy Dyba — judge of the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv;
• Fedor Kaliushko — judge of the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Viktoriya Kitsyuk — judge of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Lyudmyla Kosyk — judge of the Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Iryna Petrysheva — judge of the Desnianskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Mariya-Margaryta Pylaieva — judge of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Oleh Savytskyi — judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Svitlana Starovoitova — judge of the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Yuriy Tokman — judge of the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv;
• Olena Chaika — judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv.

As noted by the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the work of the delegates will determine the formation of the authorized composition of the High Council of Justice and, accordingly, the stable functioning of this constitutional body.

As previously reported by the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper", on June 29, the Plenum of the Supreme Court elected 12 delegates to the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine.

Delegates from the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal to the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine are judges Oksana Hindu and Zoryana Matkovska.

Delegates from the Kyiv Court of Appeal to the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine are judges:

• Lyubov Polyvach;
• Nataliya Polishchuk;
• Viktoriya Sokolova.

The 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine will begin its work on September 2, 2026, in Kyiv. The main agenda items are:

1. Appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
2. Election of eight members of the High Council of Justice

Election of delegates is only the first stage of preparation for the 21st Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine. The main decisions will be made on September 2, when the judicial community must form a new composition of judicial governance bodies and elect judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The results of the congress will affect not only the continuity of the High Council of Justice’s work but also the further implementation of judicial reform and Ukraine’s fulfillment of its European integration commitments in the field of the rule of law.

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