The President of Ukraine Has Signed a Law Establishing New Specialized Administrative Courts

On September 30 2025, the President of Ukraine signed Law № 4586-IX (Draft Law 13302), officially launching the process that will create both the Specialized District Administrative Court and the Specialized Administrative Court of Appeal.

Below is an overview of these courts' composition, which cases they will hear, the expected timelines and the consequences of their establishment.

I. What came before Law № 4586-IX?

The idea of such courts had been in the making for years. The main reason was the overwhelming caseload within the administrative justice system, particularly the Kyiv District Administrative Court, which for a long time has been the only venue for disputes of national significance and in recent years has been pushed to the breaking point. Another factor arises from Ukraine’s European integration commitments: transparent and specialized courts are a condition for aligning the legal system with EU standards. And there was also a practical need — to set up separate institutions focused on strategically important cases involving central authorities and key regulators.

With this in mind, on March 24 2025 the President of Ukraine signed Law № 4264-IX, which laid down the legal foundations for the Specialized District Administrative Court (SDAC) and the Specialized Administrative Court of Appeal (SACA).

Building on this step, in September 2025 the Verkhovna Rada passed Law № 4586-IX. Thus, Law № 4264-IX established the general framework, while Law № 4586-IX launched the concrete process of setting up the new courts.

II. How will the new courts be formed, and when will they begin their work?

For the time being, the SDAC and SACA exist only on paper. The law provides that they will start operating only when at least half of their judges are appointed through an open competition.

The qualification criteria for these judges are particularly demanding. Beyond the standard requirements for judicial candidates, applicants must also meet at least one of the following special conditions:

• at least five years of judicial experience (seven years for SACA candidates);
• at least seven years (nine years for SACA candidates) of legal work in senior civil service posts (categories A or B) in nationwide government bodies;
• at least seven years (nine years for SACA candidates) of legal practice as an attorney, including representation in public-law disputes before administrative courts;
• an academic degree in law and at least seven years (nine years for SACA candidates) of academic work in law;
• a combined professional record (as listed above) of at least seven years (nine years for SACA candidates).

Law № 4264-IX sets a strict deadline for the process: within one month of Law № 4586-IX coming into force, the competition must be announced. But the process' pace will depend on the work of the selection bodies and the complexity of the process itself. The Head of the High Qualification Commission of Judges, Andriy Pasichnyk, has already noted that, realistically, the first candidate interviews can be expected no earlier than the summer of 2026.

This means that even under the most optimistic scenario, the process will stretch over at least a year. And this concerns only the judges. In parallel, an equally challenging task lies ahead — to assemble the court staff, prepare the premises and provide equipment and personnel. According to government plans, both courts are to be located at 38 M. Mikhnovsky Boulevard, which currently houses the State Research Institute of Informatization and Economic Modelling. Yet, refurbishment and technical outfitting always take time and money — resources the judicial system has long been short of.

This creates a familiar Ukrainian dilemma: between the legal act of establishment and the actual start of work, years can pass. The country already has examples of such long-term projects. The Intellectual Property High Court was established by presidential decree in 2017 but has yet to begin operations. The Kyiv City District Administrative Court has existed on paper since late 2022 but has never opened its doors. Now the SDAC and SACA risk joining this list.

III. What cases will the SDAC and SACA hear?

Law № 4264-IX defines the disputes that will be transferred to the new courts. Essentially, it restores the jurisdiction once held by the Kyiv District Administrative Court before its controversial dissolution. In practice, the SDAC will handle disputes of national importance, where the defendants are the highest state authorities.

As a first-instance court, the SDAC will hear cases challenging acts, decisions or inaction by the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, central executive bodies, the National Bank of Ukraine and other nationwide authorities. Exceptions are set out in the Administrative Justice Code and concern the categories of cases reserved for other courts.

The law also gives the SDAC jurisdiction over several additional key categories. These include lawsuits of the Antimonopoly Committee on state aid to business, disputes over media oversight and regulation, deregistration or banning of political parties, and challenges to the decisions of selection commissions appointing top anti-corruption officials — the heads of the SAPO, NABU, NACP, ARMA and ESBU. In short, the SDAC will decide cases that directly shape the anti-corruption infrastructure. Added to this are disciplinary cases against prosecutors and performance audits of the SAPO and NABU.

Thus, the SDAC will concentrate jurisdiction over the most sensitive and high-profile disputes in public administration. Meanwhile, the Specialized Administrative Court of Appeal (SACA) will hear appeals against SDAC rulings and act as the final appellate instance before cases can be referred to the Supreme Court.

In effect, the new courts are meant to take over the “heavy artillery” role of administrative justice previously concentrated in the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DACK). How independently and effectively they function will determine the level of trust in the judiciary among both the public and international partners.

IV. How will the establishment of the SDAC and SACA affect administrative justice?

The actual creation of the new courts is expected to bring a noticeable positive effect to the entire administrative justice system. First and foremost, it should ease the burden on the Kyiv District Administrative Court. After the DACK’s liquidation, this court inherited a massive volume of complex, high-profile cases, which sharply increased judges’ workload and virtually paralyzed their ability to function normally. The SDAC should relieve a significant share of this caseload and help stabilize the situation, at least in the medium term.

Law № 4264-IX does not yet resolve what will happen to cases that fall within the SDAC’s jurisdiction but were already filed with the KDAC before the SDAC was created. Formally, it sets out no transfer procedure, which means that cases already assigned to KDAC judges will likely remain there under Part 3 of Article 30 of the Administrative Procedure Code of Ukraine. Unassigned cases, however, may be transferred to the new court.

Another major advantage is specialization. The SDAC will focus solely on cases of national importance, while the KDAC has been forced to juggle two functions: handling high-profile disputes against central authorities and resolving ordinary territorial disputes from Kyiv and the region. The new model eliminates this mix and should quicken proceedings. This is exactly what lawmakers and Ukraine’s international partners have long insisted on: in disputes with the state, citizens and businesses should get decisions quickly and without suspicion of delay or bias.

Still, risks remain. Establishing a single specialized court for the country's most important disputes could improve the quality of justice, but it also creates the temptation to concentrate political or administrative influence on just these two courts. This is not merely a journalistic concern but a serious legal question: are we not creating a new DACK, only under a different name?

The creation of the SDAC and SACA is an attempt to make administrative justice more accessible, efficient and predictable. Whether this attempt succeeds will depend less on the letter of the law and more on how quickly and effectively the new institutions can be launched in practice.

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Co-authors:
Partner Oleksandr Onishchenko, Senior Associate Mykola Yerema, Paralegal Denys Boichuk