New High Anti-Corruption Court Judges May Be Left Without Workplaces Due to Lack of Premises: HJC Called the Problem Critical
In the report on the state of ensuring judicial independence in Ukraine for 2025, the High Council of Justice drew attention to the fact that the issue of providing the HACC and the HACC Appeals Chamber with proper permanent premises remains unresolved.
At the same time, resolving this issue is critically important to ensure stable and uninterrupted justice in cases of the highest-level corruption offenses and has strategic significance for Ukraine's fulfillment of international obligations, the HJC noted.
Recall that for more than six years the High Anti-Corruption Court has been operating without appropriate infrastructure — justice is administered in several scattered buildings, some of which are temporary and do not meet safety and functionality requirements.
On March 25, during the HACC judges' meeting, a decision was made to appeal to the President of Ukraine with a request to resolve the issue of providing the court with proper permanent premises.
The court noted that the problem is exacerbated amid the completion of the selection of new judges.
The judges emphasize that providing the HACC with permanent premises is part of Ukraine's European integration commitments. In particular, according to the Roadmap on the Rule of Law, this issue was supposed to be resolved before the third quarter of 2025.
The HACC reminded that following the decision of the High Council of Justice dated September 26, 2023, which increased the number of HACC judges by 24 staff positions, the Court promptly appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and other executive authorities with a request to provide it with premises meeting the proper conditions for administering justice.
Throughout 2024–2025, the Cabinet of Ministers was repeatedly informed about the urgency of this problem, and in response to the Court's appeals, several instructions from the Prime Minister appeared.
"However, no effective solution or justified option for placing the HACC that would meet the requirements for court buildings has been proposed. The objects recommended for consideration were mostly in a neglected state, required lengthy and costly repairs, or did not meet the basic requirements for premises suitable for administering justice," the court explained.
Therefore, the HACC noted that by their own efforts they identified the most suitable building for the court's placement in Kyiv at the address: 35 Vasyl Lypkivskyi Street.
According to the judges, this facility fully meets the basic functional needs for administering justice, and previous meetings and communications with representatives of state authorities confirmed the absence of objective obstacles to transferring this building to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
"Currently, the resolution of the issue depends solely on the adoption of the appropriate administrative decision at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine," the appeal states.
Thus, the HACC judges ask the President to urgently instruct the relevant authorities to transfer this building to the court's management.
"Delays in resolving this issue will lead to a situation where newly appointed judges will effectively be deprived of the opportunity to administer justice, the Court's activities will be significantly complicated and slowed down. This will nullify the results of the conducted competition, undermine the institutional capacity of the HACC, and call into question Ukraine's fulfillment of its international obligations," the court stated.
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