According to Article 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Citizens' Appeals" provides for the right to address individual or collective written appeals, or to personally recourse to public authorities, local self-government bodies, officials, and officers of these bodies.

Requirements for Appeals

The appeal may be in an oral or written form.

An oral appeal is made by a citizen at a personal reception or by means of telephone communication through certain contact centres, telephone "hot lines" and is recorded (registered) by an official.

A written appeal is sent by mail or forwarded by a citizen to the relevant body, institution in person or through a person authorized by him, whose powers are formalized in accordance with the law. A written appeal can also be sent via the Internet, electronic means of communication (electronic appeal).

The appeal must indicate the surname, name, patronymic, place of residence of the citizen, set out the main points of the issue, comments, suggestions, statements or complaints, requests or demands. The written appeal must be signed by the applicant (applicants) with the date indicated. The electronic appeal must also indicate the e-mail address to which the reply to the applicant may be sent or information about other means of communication with the applicant. The use of an electronic digital signature when sending an electronic appeal is not required.

An appeal filed without complying with the above requirements shall be returned to the applicant with the relevant explanations no later than ten days from the date of its receipt, except as provided for in part one of Article 7 of the above Law.

At the same time, account should be taken of the provisions of Article 6, part 2, of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges", according to which appeals from citizens, organizations or officials who, in accordance with the law, are not participants in the judicial process, regarding consideration of specific cases, shall not be considered by the court unless otherwise provided by law.

We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that citizens' appeals for disciplinary proceedings against judges, including judges of the Supreme Court, must be submitted directly to the High Council of Justice, since disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the provisions of Article 108 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges" (hereinafter referred to as the Law) ) are only carried out by the disciplinary chambers of the High Council of Justice in the manner prescribed by the Law of Ukraine "On the High Council of Justice", taking into account the requirements of the Law. At the same time, a disciplinary complaint against a judge must meet the requirements of Article 107 of the Law.

Time Limit for Consideration of Appeals

Appeals are considered and resolved within no more than one month from the date of their receipt, and those that do not require additional study - immediately, but not later than fifteen days from the date of receipt. If it is impossible to resolve the issues raised in the appeal within a month, the head of the body or his/her deputy shall set the necessary time for its consideration, which is communicated to the person who submitted the appeal. At the same time, the total time limit for resolving the issues raised in the appeal may not exceed 45 days.

Upon a substantiated written request of a citizen, the period for consideration may be reduced from the established period.

Appeals from citizens who have benefits established by law are considered as a matter of priority.

Personal Reception of Citizens in the Supreme Court

In order to ensure the independence of judges, the inadmissibility of non-procedural influence on a judge, taking into account the requirements of Ukrainian legislation and international standards of independence of judges, in view of the provisions of Article 156 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges", personal reception of citizens in the Supreme Court regarding its organizational support is carried out by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Court and his/her Deputies - the Heads of the Secretariats of the Cassation Courts within the Supreme Court.

The procedure and schedule of personal reception of citizens at the Supreme Court can be found at this link https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/gromadyanam/priyom_grom/.

The contacts of the Supreme Court, including the cassation courts acting within it, can be found at this link https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/gromadyanam/kontakts/