No one to hear cases: a district court in Mykolaiv Oblast is left without judges authorized to serve

Three judges of the Novoodesky District Court of Mykolaiv Region have been temporarily suspended from administering justice. This follows a disciplinary hearing held on October 7.

“No one has yet fully grasped the consequences of the fact that, in Nova Odesa, following the decisions of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), not a single judge remains—let me stress, not a single one—with the authority to administer justice,” Mykolaiv lawyer Volodymyr Tymoshyn wrote on his Facebook page.

The Third Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) reviewed the disciplinary cases against the judges. The outcomes were as follows:

• Regarding Valeriia Barankevych, the chamber decided to impose a disciplinary sanction in the form of a motion to dismiss her from office.
• Regarding Serhii Serhiienko, a similar decision was made: a motion to dismiss him from office as a disciplinary sanction.
• The HCJ decided to temporarily suspend Vasyl Kychula from administering justice for three months. He was also ordered to complete a professional development course at the National School of Judges of Ukraine, after which he will undergo a qualification assessment.

The motions to dismiss do not mean that these two judges have already been finally removed from office. The law provides for automatic temporary suspension from administering justice when this disciplinary sanction is imposed. The suspension remains in force until the HCJ decides to dismiss the judge or the disciplinary chamber’s decision is overturned.

We previously reported:

• A new judge in Korabelnyi. Three more are needed
• Zelensky approved a strategy for developing justice in the country for three years