The Supreme Court is one of the key institutions designed to ensure the rule of law in Ukraine. All
important cases end up, or sometimes even start out, in this court.

In the spring of 2023, Supreme Court (SC) President Vsevolod Kniaziev was caught by anti-corruption agencies accepting a bribe of almost USD 3 million. This day was dubbed the “black day in the history” of the Supreme Court. However, it appears that it was not an isolated problem, but rather a bad streak that started long before the corruption scandal. For Ukrainian society and international partners, a corruption story of this magnitude became a clear signal that there was a need for real, not illusory, reform of the Supreme Court.

For instance, in its 2024 Ukraine report, the European Commission once again reiterated the need to cleanse the Supreme Court. The EU also clearly indicated that the procedure of selecting Supreme Court judges had to change by means of new legislation and unified criteria of judges’ integrity assessment. International partners expect these changes to be set forth in a new law, which will be adopted “as soon as possible.” The implementation of this recommendation should undoubtedly contribute to the main goal of the reform, which is to cleanse the judicial corps. However, no progress has been made yet in this regard.

In this publication, the DEJURE Foundation explains the problems faced by the Supreme Court and their detrimental impact on Ukraine, also proposing potential solutions. The first attempt to establish a new Supreme Court in 2016 was a failure long before the Kniaziev scandal. This is hardly surprising, since the selection procedure at the time was basically a sham — numerous low-integrity judges received positions in the “new” court, and numerous demands and concerns expressed by the public were completely disregarded.

A quarter of the judges appointed to the Supreme Court at the time had previously received a negative opinion from the Public Integrity Council (PIC), which verified candidates for compliance with the criteria of professional ethics and integrity. About 50% had information about them provided by the PIC that could indicate a low level of integrity — among them, former SC President Kniaziev. Despite this, in 2019 the Supreme Court was fully staffed.

Today, the judiciary’s reputation and the level of trust in the court just keep plummeting. More than 51% of Supreme Court judges are believed to possibly have low integrity as of 2025. This is evidenced by negative opinions and information from the Public Integrity Council (PIC). DEJURE Foundation experts analyzed available data on 153 current Supreme Court justices. Of them, 34 have negative opinions of the PIC, and about 44 more, there is information that may indicate low integrity. This includes data from journalists about a judge’s connections, certain questions regarding their declarations or court decisions, etc.

The Supreme Court systematically opposes the judicial reform and attempts to roll back its achievements, striving to perpetuate the old ways — i.e., easily controllable courts. This also jeopardizes Ukraine’s further European integration, since without the rule of law, it cannot become a member of the European community. There is a critical need to renew the Supreme Court, staffing it with justices who will act in the best interest of Ukrainian society and in line with EU requirements: with integrity, professionalism, and independence.