The Council of Judges of Ukraine extended the candidate selection for the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine
On July 21, the Council of Judges of Ukraine (CJU) adopted decision No. 30, which extended the deadline for participation in the competition for selecting candidates for the positions of members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJU), announced in accordance with the decision of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) No. 1543/0/15-25 dated July 22, 2025, until September 25 (inclusive).
The CJU reminded that on July 22, 2025, the HCJ decision No. 1543/0/15-25 announced the start of the competition to fill vacant positions of members of the Competition Commission for appointing members of the HQCJU.
On July 25, 2025, the Council of Judges of Ukraine received a letter from the HCJ No. 15471/0/9-25 dated July 25, 2025, requesting, within the deadlines established by the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges," to provide the HCJ with candidates for the Competition Commission.
According to parts two and three of Article 951 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges," the HCJ appoints members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU from among persons proposed by the subjects forming the Competition Commission within five days from the date of receipt of proposals from the subjects forming it.
Thus, in accordance with the HCJ decision dated July 22, 2025, No. 1543/0/15-25, on July 29, 2025, the CJU, as a subject forming the Competition Commission, announced on its official website the start of the competitive selection to fill vacant positions of members of the Competition Commission under its quota and established that to participate in the competition for the position of a member of the Competition Commission, a person intending to become a member of the Competition Commission for appointing members of the HQCJU had to submit the relevant documents to the CJU from July 30 to August 15, 2025.
According to points 2-3 of the CJU decision dated August 22, 2025, No. 37, the deadline for participation in the competition for selecting candidates for the positions of members of the Competition Commission for appointing members of the HQCJU was extended until September 11, 2025 (inclusive), and a corresponding announcement about the extension was posted on the CJU official website.
Based on the competition results, the CJU adopted decision No. 42 dated October 3, 2025, and proposed to the HCJ to appoint the following candidates as members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU under the CJU quota:
Andriy Mykolayovych Hryhorov — retired judge of the Second Administrative Court of Appeal;
Oleksandr Vasylovych Kotkov — judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv;
Volodymyr Stepanovych Petrov — judge (chairman) of the Commercial Court of Odesa region.
However, as of today, the Competition Commission for appointing members of the HQCJU has not been formed. By the CJU decision dated June 5, 2026, No. 19, a critical state of judicial staffing was noted. According to the HCJ-approved staffing standards for courts, the normative need for the number of judges in local and appellate courts in 2026 is 11,539 positions, while only 4,215 judges are actually administering justice. The shortage of judicial staff exceeds 63%, creating excessive workload on current judges and threatening citizens' constitutional right to access justice.
To ensure continuity and stability in the procedures for selecting candidates for judicial positions, the CJU appealed to the HCJ with a proposal to consider the issue of starting the selection of candidates for the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU, since the powers of the current HQCJU composition expire in 2027.
In a response letter dated June 22, 2026, No. 12191/0/9-26, the HCJ stated that the Competition Commission has not been formed, and the competition announced by the HCJ decision dated July 22, 2025, No. 1543/0/15-25 is still ongoing.
Considering the HCJ’s position as the body responsible for appointing members of the Competition Commission for the HQCJU, and the provision of part 5 of Article 95¹ of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges," which requires each subject forming the Competition Commission to propose at least two candidates per vacant position to the HCJ, and since the CJU quota in the Competition Commission is three persons from among judges or retired judges, the CJU is obliged to propose at least six candidates to the HCJ.
However, by the CJU decision dated October 3, 2025, No. 42, only three candidates were proposed, which effectively deprives the HCJ of the opportunity to perform its function of appointing members of the Competition Commission on a competitive basis.
Given that the staffing shortage is critical for the functioning of the judiciary, the terms of office of the current HQCJU members expire in 2027, the Competition Commission has not been formed, the competition is ongoing, and delays in forming a new HQCJU composition may lead to a complete halt in filling vacancies in courts, deepening the staffing crisis and, accordingly, systemic collapse of the judicial branch, after hearing and discussing the information from the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, V.V. Salikhov, on the necessity to resolve the issue of extending the candidate selection for the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU, in accordance with parts eight of Articles 95¹ and 133 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" and the Regulation on the Council of Judges of Ukraine approved by the decision of the 20th regular Congress of Judges of Ukraine dated March 11, 2026, the Council of Judges of Ukraine decided:
- To take note of the information from the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, V.V. Salikhov, on the necessity to resolve the issue of extending the candidate selection for the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU.
- To extend the deadline for participation in the competition for selecting candidates for the positions of members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU, announced in accordance with the HCJ decision No. 1543/0/15-25 dated July 22, 2025, until September 25, 2026 (inclusive).
It is established that documents must be submitted to the Council of Judges of Ukraine within the specified deadline at the address: Kyiv, Lypska St., 18/5, on working days from 09:00 to 17:00 (on Fridays until 15:45); simultaneously, scanned copies in PDF format must be sent by e-mail to [email protected] by 24:00 on September 25, 2026 (inclusive).
According to the Methodology for assessing the compliance of a candidate for the position of a member of the Competition Commission, approved by the HCJ decision dated July 22, 2025, No. 1542/0/15-25, and the conditions of the competition announced by the HCJ decision dated July 22, 2025, No. 1543/0/15-25 "On the start of the competition to fill vacant positions of members of the Competition Commission," candidates applying for the position of a member of the Competition Commission must submit the following documents to the Council of Judges of Ukraine:
1) Candidate’s autobiography for the position of a member of the Competition Commission.
2) Candidate’s questionnaire for the position of a member of the Competition Commission.
3) Copy of the taxpayer identification number registration card.
4) Copies of all filled pages of the Ukrainian citizen’s passport.
5) Copy of the diploma of higher legal education (with supplements) obtained in Ukraine, and/or a copy of the document of higher legal education obtained abroad, together with a copy of the document confirming its recognition in Ukraine.
6) Copies of documents confirming professional experience in the field of law. Documents confirming professional experience in the field of law may include employment record book, service record, job description, or other documents regarding the person’s relevant activity. The document package must contain copies of all filled pages of such documents.
7) Consent to collect, store, process, and use information about the candidate.
8) Recommendations characterizing the candidate for the position of a member of the Competition Commission and confirming compliance with the requirements of Article 951 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" (if available).
9) Candidate’s motivation letter for the position of a member of the Competition Commission.
10) Copy of the declaration of a person authorized to perform state or local government functions covering the year preceding the year of document submission, and a reference to the relevant page of the Unified State Register of Declarations of Persons Authorized to Perform State or Local Government Functions (if available).
- To post on the Council of Judges of Ukraine website an announcement about the extension of the competitive selection to fill vacant positions of members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU under the CJU quota.
- To inform the High Council of Justice about the extension by the Council of Judges of Ukraine of the deadline for participation in the competition for selecting candidates for the positions of members of the Competition Commission to conduct the competition for the position of a member of the HQCJU.
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