“The budget of the court system is 50% of the actual need”, Head of the State Judicial Administration

Nov 30, 2018 | Judiciary, Justice

The process of judicial remapping has been taking place in Ukraine since the end of last year. One hundred forty two local and appellate courts have been reorganized, under the presidential decree, into 74 district courts.

For example, in place of the Economic Court of the City of Kyiv, the Kyiv District Economic Court was created. Instead of the Appellate Administrative Court of Kyiv, the Sixth Appellate Administrative Court was established. The first one is located in Kramatorsk, and the Seventh one is in Vinnitsa.

The reason for such changes is the lack of judges and their disproportionate workload. Some 60% of local general courts employ three or less judges. If one of them is on vacation or on a sick leave, the court cannot function properly, says Zenovii Kholodniuk, Head of the State Judicial Administration.

So, last year, the SJA developed a new map of courts, taking into account the workload of judges and the number of cases, while also suggesting the president to establish district courts.

The reform was approbated on the courts of appeal, because they are fewer than the local ones, so it was possible to take into account all necessary nuances. In early October, the first of the reorganized courts started functioning.

Does the optimization of the judicial system threaten case consideration, when will the lack of judges be overcome, and how much money is needed to set up the High Anti-Corruption Department and its Grand Chamber? see the interview with Zenovii Kholodniuk.

Read more here.