On April 21, 2026, a formal swearing-in ceremony was held for judges appointed to their positions for the first time, attended by Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the President of Ukraine.
22 judges took the oath: 3 from general local courts, 2 from local commercial courts, 5 from courts of appeal, 8 from commercial courts of appeal, and 4 from administrative courts of appeal, who were appointed to their positions by decrees of the President of Ukraine following the results of competitions announced by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine.
The event was attended by Andrii Pasichnyk, Chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine; Hryhorii Usyk, Chairman of the High Council of Justice; Stanislav Kravchenko, President of the Supreme Court; Vitalii Salikhov, Head of the Council of Judges of Ukraine; and Iryna Mudra, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Among the appointed judges are representatives from various regions of Ukraine: three each from Kyiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions; two each from Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Lviv and Rivne regions; and one each from Donetsk, Transcarpathian, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Poltava regions.
A person appointed to the position of judge for the first time assumes the powers of a judge after taking the oath during a solemn ceremony in the presence of the President of Ukraine. A judge may administer justice only after taking the oath, being enrolled on the court’s staff and completing initial training.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine