The case lay dormant for almost three years without any procedural actions: judge from Donetsk region Olena Shylova received a warning

The Second Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice held judge of the Commercial Court of Donetsk region Olena Shylova disciplinarily liable and applied a disciplinary sanction in the form of a warning.

Circumstances of the case

The basis for the disciplinary proceedings was a complaint regarding case No. 905/615/21 filed by LLC "Mining Service" against PJSC "Kalchytsky Quarry" for debt recovery. By the ruling dated April 12, 2021, the judge opened proceedings and decided to consider the case under the simplified claim procedure without summoning the parties.

The complainant indicated a violation of part one of Article 248 of the Commercial Procedural Code of Ukraine: the case was supposed to be considered by June 11, 2021, but as of October 13, 2021 (the date of the complaint), the case was still ongoing. Violations of the deadlines for sending the ruling on opening proceedings to the plaintiff were also recorded.

Subsequently, by the ruling dated October 23, 2021, the judge transferred the case to the general claim procedure rules and scheduled a preparatory hearing for November 4, 2021. Preparatory hearings were repeatedly postponed. The case was finally concluded by the ruling dated January 27, 2025, by approving a settlement agreement concluded by the parties on January 31, 2022.

Thus, the case was under the judge’s consideration for almost four years, which does not comply with the requirements of commercial procedural legislation and cannot be considered a reasonable time for cases of this category.

Separately, the disciplinary body drew attention to the period after the parties submitted applications for approval of the settlement agreement. On February 2 and 3, 2022, the plaintiff and defendant applied to the court with corresponding requests and asked to hold the hearing in their absence. By the ruling dated February 2, 2022, the judge postponed the hearing to February 15, 2022, and requested the original settlement agreement and proof of authority of the person who signed the agreement on behalf of the defendant. The parties fulfilled these requirements by the appointed date: on February 8, the plaintiff provided the original agreement, and on February 14, the defendant submitted the necessary documents.

On February 14, 2022, the parties were sent a phone message that the hearing scheduled for February 15 would not take place due to the judge switching to remote work mode. After that, there are no procedural documents in the case materials until January 27, 2025. In fact, for almost three years, the judge took no actions regarding the case consideration.

Decision of the Disciplinary Body

During the hearing, disciplinary inspector Oleksandra Liubarets noted that the workload of judges of the Commercial Court of Donetsk region was not excessive. The actual number of judges who administered justice during 2022 — first quarter of 2025 exceeded the norms necessary to consider the number of cases submitted to the court.

Considering the established circumstances, the Second Disciplinary Chamber decided to hold Olena Shylova disciplinarily liable and apply a sanction in the form of a warning.

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