Government of Ukraine - Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

• Constitutional jurisdiction
  • The Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The Constitutional Court has been formed on October 18, 1996, following the adoption of a new Constitution. Initially the judges were appointed for 9 years, and by 2005 the term has been expired for the majority of judges, which resulted in the court being de facto not functioning. Following the Constitutional reform, the new judges, which took oath in the parliament on August 4, 2006 were appointed for 9-year term.
• General jurisdiction
  • The Supreme Court of Ukraine;
  • High specialized courts: the High Arbitration Court of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Вищий господарський суд України), the High Administrative Court of Ukraine;
  • Regional courts of appeal, military courts of appeal, specialized courts of appeal;
  • Local district courts, military garrison courts.

The Constitution of Ukraine provides for trials by jury. This has not yet been implemented in practice. Moreover, some courts provided for by legislation as still in project, as is the case for, e.g., the Court of Appeals of Ukraine. The reform of the judicial branch is presently under way.

General Prosecutor of Ukraine

The office of the General Prosecutor has not been clearly defined to which government branch it belongs.