The Blue-and-Yellow Flag Flies on the Building of the Kherson Court of Appeal

The Ukrainian flag appeared on the building of the Kherson Court of Appeal on November 12, 2022 after the deoccupation of the city.

The President of the Kherson Court of Appeal Oleksandr Korovaiko said that he intended to go to Kherson as soon as possible. Several bomb-disposal teams are working on demining the city. “I think it will be possible to come to the city in three or four days. It is necessary to assess the damage caused by the occupiers to the court building and determine the measures aimed at its restoration,” he said.

It has been agreed that this week the President of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev and the President of the Kherson Court of Appeal will be discussing issues of justice restoration in the regional centre, as well as the relevant organizational arrangements.

According to Oleksandr Korovaiko, the court staff remained in full force, most of the judges (90%) and staff members did not leave their hometown, they work in Odessa, two judges each in Zhytomyr and Rivne. As soon as the President of the Supreme Court decides to resume the administration of justice in the Kherson Court of Appeal, all judges and court staff will return to Kherson. “We are grateful to our colleagues from the Odessa Court of Appeal, but everyone really wants to come back to Kherson as soon as possible. Our team has become even more united in this difficult time. The judges are ready to resume their work in the deoccupied territory of the Kherson region and to ensure the constitutional function - the administration of justice,” said Oleksandr Korovaiko.

In addition, the President of the court said that the Kherson Court of Appeal in coordination with the courts of first instance was also discussing the issue of resuming their work on the territory of the region liberated from the invaders.

We would like to recall that on March 2, 2022, Ukrainian troops had to retreat from Kherson after massive shelling of residential areas of the city by the invaders and fierce battles. The judges of the Kherson Court of Appeal had to evacuate. As a result of the shelling of the city by the forces of the aggressor country, the courthouse was damaged.

According to the order of the President of the Supreme Court of March 6, 2022 1/0/9-22 “On Changing the Territorial Jurisdiction of Court Cases Under Martial Law”, territorial jurisdiction of cases of the Kherson Court of Appeal was appointed to the Dnipro Court of Appeal, and according to the order of the President of the Supreme Court of September 26, 2022 No. 52 “On Changing the Territorial Jurisdiction of Court Cases of the Kherson Region Courts” - to the Odessa Court of Appeal.

During the counteroffensive in southern Ukraine on November 11, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Kherson, pushing Russian troops back to the left bank of the Dnipro. The next day, the National Police of Ukraine returned to the city.

The work of the Kherson Court of Appeal will soon be resumed, as will the activities of all courts in the liberated territories.

Our congratulations to the judges of the Kherson Court of Appeal, as well as to all residents of the regional centre and deoccupied settlements of Kherson on their liberation from the occupiers!

Kherson is Ukraine!