Judges fail to elect new Constitutional Court chief
The judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine were unable to elect the Chairman of the Constitutional Court during a special plenary session on September 18, the court’s press service reported on Friday.
“On Thursday, September 18, 2025, a special plenary session of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine was held, at which the Court considered the issue of electing the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The Court will continue its consideration at one of the next special plenary sessions,” the CCU said in a statement on its website.
Currently, since the CCU has neither a Chairman nor his Deputy, the Court is headed by Oleksandr Petryshyn as the oldest.
After the simultaneous resignation of three judges on January 27, 2025, the CCU lost its quorum and could not hold meetings of the Grand Chamber and the Second Senate. Only the First Senate continued its work.
The quorum in the CCU was restored in late June, when President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Vodyannikov as a judge of the CCU from his quota. In July, the new judges held a session of the Grand Chamber, which considers the submissions of people’s deputies and the President.
Currently, there are problems with holding sessions of the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court, as judges have recused themselves in some cases, and their consideration has been suspended. Since the court has only 12 judges - the critically necessary number for holding a session, if one of the judges is recused, consideration of cases becomes impossible.
On September 17, the president signed a decree appointing Yuriy Barabash as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine according to his quota. When Barabash takes the oath, the Constitutional Court will have 13 judges out of the 18 required.
The selection of judges for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is handled by the Advisory Group of Experts, which must assess the moral qualities and level of competence in the field of law of candidates from the appointing entities - the Verkhovna Rada, the President, and the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.
On February 19, 2025, the State Administrative Court of Ukraine submitted documents to the Verkhovna Rada and the President for the appointment of 5 judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine – 2 under the parliamentary quota and 3 under the presidential quota. So far, the President has appointed two judges – Vodyannikov and Barabash – under his quota, while the Parliament has not yet appointed any judges.
The competition for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is also ongoing under the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.
As reported, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has been without a chairman since early 2021, when Zelensky dismissed the then head of the court, Oleksandr Tupytsky. Subsequently, the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court granted Tupytsky’s claim to the President, declared it unlawful, and annulled the decree. The President’s Office filed an appeal against this decision.
Tupytsky never returned to his duties. His powers as a judge expired on May 15, 2022. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating a number of criminal cases against Tupytsky, including illegal border crossing.
After Tupytsky was removed from office, his then-deputy Serhiy Holovatyy served as the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. In May 2024, his powers as a judge expired due to reaching the age of 70. Since then, Viktor Kryvenko, as the oldest judge, has served as the Chairman of the Court, and after his resignation, Petryshyn.