Advancing the Quality of Justice by Empowering the Supreme Court’s Role in Delivering Transparent, Accountable and Inclusive Justice

Since 2014, Ukraine has undertaken judicial reforms aimed at strengthening the quality of justice. However, further support is needed to ensure greater coherence of judicial practice - whereby courts apply consistent reasoning in similar cases – as well as the proper application of international standards, stronger judicial accountability and more effective public communication by the judiciary. Case backlogs, lengthy proceedings, and outdated digital infrastructure further undermine the efficiency of the justice system and public trust courts’ ability to protect citizens’ rights. These challenges are particularly pressing in the context of the ongoing war and future post-war recovery, when demand for fair justice is especially high. They are also central to Ukraine’s broader reform agenda, where stability, consistency, and alignment with international standards are essential for strengthening the rule of law.

As Ukraine’s highest judicial authority, the Supreme Court plays a critical role in ensuring the consistent application of the law in line with international standards. The effective protection of human rights and maintaining public confidence in the justice system are among other overarching goals of the institution. In response to the institutional and procedural challenges, the project will pursue an integrated approach to enhance the Supreme Court’s ability to consistently deliver human-rights-based decision-making, aligned with OSCE commitments and compliant with international standards and best practices. 

In particular, the project includes targeted activities combining institutional reform, judicial capacity-building, public outreach, digitalization, and engagement with civil society, media, and youth. It seeks to enhance the coherence and consistency of the Supreme Court’s case law by introducing structured methodologies for judicial reasoning and establishing mechanisms to harmonize jurisprudence across chambers and lower courts. Gender-sensitive and rights-based adjudication will be strengthened through the elaboration of tailored guidelines, delivery of training courses, and the introduction of tools supporting the application of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) case law. 

The project also seeks to reinforce institutional accountability by introducing tools and practices aligned with international standards and embedding inclusive approaches across Supreme Court operations. Ethical standards of judges will be reinforced through the development of a Commentary to the Code of Judicial Ethics and the delivery of training modules on integrity. To enhance public trust, the project supports the development of a communication strategy, strengthens outreach capacities, and promotes structured engagement with legal professionals, civil society, human rights organizations and the wider public. Digital transformations will be advanced through improvements to case management systems and the automated publication of decisions to increase transparency and reduce the workload of judges.