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5 steps to living without the DACK
The District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DACK) has long been a symbol of judicial corruption. By its decisions, this court, in particular, banned protests during the Revolution of Dignity, suspended the qualification assessment of judges, abolished decommunisation, and massively reinstated uncertified police officers.

The culmination was searches conducted by NABU in the court in the summer of 2019 and 2020. The searches were inevitably followed by suspicions of seizure of state power by judges of the DACK, including its President, Pavlo Vovk. The International Monetary Fund, foreign partners, leading national experts, and 25,000 citizens who signed the petition on the Ukrainian President's website are demanding one thing - to deprive the odious court of its decisive influence on public life.

Back in February, the President initiated a draft law in Parliament to reduce the powers of the DACK. Today he announced that he was submitting a draft law to the Parliament to liquidate the scandalous DACK. And this is good!

The DEJURE Foundation is looking forward to the publication of its text to see if this will be another imitation or not. In particular, will the draft law prevent the current DACK judges from entering the new court, will they consider cases indefinitely until a new court is established, or will the procedure for establishing a new court ensure that only judges of high integrity get there?

In the meantime, let's talk about the 5 steps you need to take to live a free life without the DACK.
To deprive the DACK of the authority to consider cases at the national level
Method of implementation
  • it is necessary to make amendments to the Code of Administrative Procedure;
  • the changes must transfer the exclusive jurisdiction of the DACK to the Supreme Court, at least in the most significant cases (where the DACK commits the most abuse);
Expected result
The strength of the DACK is that it can make decisions at the national level, from ministerial orders to decisions of the National Bank and the Cabinet of Ministers. Deprived of exclusive jurisdiction, the DACK will become an ordinary administrative court. Without their exclusive powers, the judges will cease to be so influential;
Realistic deadline
June 2021
What has been done as of today
  • the President introduced the draft law №5067 to Parliament. He proposes to remove only a small part of the exclusive jurisdiction of the DACK and, therefore, will not be able to neutralise its negative impact;
  • The draft law should be revised so that the DACK could not consider the most important cases at the national level.
To liquidate the DACK as an institution
Method of implementation
  • a separate law introduced by the President after consultations with the HCJ is required;
  • the law liquidates the DACK as an institution and stipulates that its judges immediately cease to administer justice;
  • the law creates a new administrative court for Kyiv and the Kyiv region instead of the DACK;
  • temporarily until the formation of a new court, all cases of the DACK are considered by another administrative court (for example, the Kyiv District Administrative Court);
Expected result
  • the DACK, as a symbol of corruption, will cease to exist, and its judges will no longer be able to administer justice;
  • to ensure access to court, during the transitional period, the cases of the DACK will be considered by other administrative courts;

Realistic deadline
June 2021
What has been done as of today
  • the President introduced the draft law on the liquidation of the DACK and the Kyiv District Administrative Court and held the necessary consultations with the HCJ. The latter gave a negative conclusion, but this is not an obstacle to submitting such a draft law to Parliament;
  • the draft law does not specify any temporary measures regarding the liquidation of the DACK, which means that until the formation of a new court for Kyiv and Kyiv region, the judges of the DACK will continue to administer justice;
  • this draft law will be submitted to the Parliament by the President. The Parliament should finalise the draft law so that judges of the DACK immediately stop administering justice as soon as the law enters into force and cannot enter a new administrative court;
Establish a new High Administrative Court for consideration of the national-level cases
Method of implementation
  • a law introduced by the President after consultations with the HCJ is required;
  • amendments to the Law on the Judiciary and the Status of Judges are required, which will determine that the selection for the High Administrative Court will take place under a similar procedure as for the High Anti-Corruption Court (participation of the Public Council of International Experts);
  • amendments to the Code of Administrative Proceedings are required, which will determine that after the High Administrative Court is established, all cases against state authorities at the national level will be transferred to it;
Expected result
  • all cases at the national level will be considered by decent judges selected in a transparent competition with the participation of international experts, following the example of the HACC;
Realistic deadline
June 2022
What has been done as of today
  • there are no necessary draft laws introduced yet, but the idea of creating a High Administrative Court is included in the draft Legal Reform Strategy for 2021-2023, presented by the President's Office;
Establish a new District Administrative Court of Kyiv and Kyiv region
Method of implementation
  • a law introduced by the President after consultations with the HCJ is required, the same one that will liquidate the DACK;
  • an amendment is required to the Law on the Judiciary and the Status of Judges, which will determine that judges from other courts cannot be transferred to the new District Administrative Court - only through competition, in which the Public Integrity Council must be involved with the right to veto the candidates of low integrity;
Expected result
  • Kyiv cannot exist for a long time without its administrative court, therefore a new court must be created in a short period of time. The law must guarantee that judges of low integrity will not get there without a competition, and the competition will guarantee an integrity check by public experts;
Realistic deadline
June 2022
What has been done as of today
  • the establishment of the new Administrative Court of Kyiv and the Kyiv region is foreseen by the project on the liquidation of the DACK, prepared by the President's Office;
The judges of the DACK resign or are dismissed
Method of implementation
  • the DACK judges may resign or be dismissed due to not passing the qualification assessment, disciplinary proceedings or refusal to participate in competitions for new courts.
Expected result
  • the DACK judges are symbols of corruption as well as the court itself, so they have no place in the judiciary, even in an ordinary local court. Being used to influential positions, they are very likely to resign. Otherwise, they can be dismissed from their positions.
Realistic deadline
June 2022
What has been done as of today
  • this step will come after the liquidation of the DACK and the establishment of new courts.
  • The material was prepared with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of DEJURE Foundation and in no way reflects the position of the NED.