On 13 December 2022, the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Liquidation of the District Administrative Court of the City of Kyiv and Establishment of the Kyiv City District Administrative Court” (the “Law”), which was signed by the President of Ukraine and came into force on 15 December 2022.
The District Administrative Court of Kyiv has thus been disempowered, and its judges are no longer entitled to carry out justice. Cases that fall under the jurisdiction of the city of Kyiv should further be considered by the newly established Kyiv City District Administrative Court, that will have territorial jurisdiction over Kyiv city.
The establishing of the Kyiv City District Administrative Court will take some time while the authorities of the liquidated court are transferred to the Kyiv District Administrative Court (that now has jurisdiction over Kyiv region). Thus, the cases that had been under consideration in the District Administrative Court of the City of Kyiv shall be transferred to the Kyiv District Administrative Court for further consideration. According to the Law this shall be done not later than 29 December 2022.
Once the Kyiv City District Administrative Court starts to function, the Kyiv District Administrative Court shall immediately transfer the cases to the new court.
The Law is a critically important development for the Ukrainian judiciary. The liquidated court was exclusively powered to consider all lawsuits against central public authorities located in Kyiv and had a significant impact on the public. But for the last several years, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau has been investigating abuses of office by the chairman and judges of the liquidated court. The US government sanctioned the liquidated court’s chairman on 9 December 2022.
