Judges of the Supreme Court of Estonia visit district courts in Ukraine that were destroyed by war

During their visit to Ukraine, at the invitation of the Supreme Court, a delegation of judges from the Supreme Court of Estonia, including Chief Justice Villu Kõve, Chairman of the Administrative Law Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia Ivo Pilving, Chairman of the Civil Chamber Urmas Volens and Justice in the Criminal Chamber Paavo Randma, paid a visit to the Borodianka District Court in the Kyiv region and the Malyn District Court in the Zhytomyr region. The buildings of both courts had been destroyed due to Russian shelling and bombing. The delegation was joined by Vice President of the Supreme Court, Oleksandr Mamalui, and Supreme Court Judge of the Criminal Cassation Court, Viktor Ostapuk.

The head of the Borodianka District Court of the Kyiv region, Hennadii Stasenko, showed the consequences of the destruction in the town and told about the resistance of its residents to the Russian occupation and the liberation of the settlement by Ukrainian troops.

During the tour of the court building, Hennadii Stasenko said that the staff had managed to hide the entire archive and most of the pending cases, so they had survived. However, all the property in the building was destroyed.

As a reminder, the Borodianka District Court in the Kyiv region became the first local court of general jurisdiction to suffer significant damage during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. The courthouse was shelled on 26 and 27 February 2022, and on 28 February 2022 it was completely destroyed by an air strike on a neighbouring residential building. Today, the court operates out of several rooms in a building owned by the State Treasury of Ukraine.

Villu Kõve highlighted that everything observed and heard holds immense significance for the recollection of Estonian judges. He expressed his sincere hope that the next time the Estonian Supreme Court delegation visits Borodianka, the guests will be received in the renovated court building in peaceful Ukraine.

The meeting, held at the Malyn District Court in the Zhytomyr region, was attended by the court's president, Volodymyr Yarmolenko, judges and staff, as well as the mayor of Malyn, Oleksandr Sytailo.

As a reminder, on 6 March 2022, when the enemy bombed the centre of the city, the blast wave severely damaged the building of this court.

Volodymyr Yarmolenko noted that Estonia was one of the first countries to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia. He also said that Malyn is on the list of Ukrainian cities to which Estonia provides financial assistance for the restoration of destroyed and damaged infrastructure (in particular, Estonia has contributed to the financing of the restoration of the bridge over the Irsha River, which separates the two parts of the city), and thanked the government and people of Estonia for this assistance.

Villu Kõve said that the judges of the delegation would tell their colleagues about life in Ukraine in the midst of war and expressed the hope that delegations of judges from other countries would also visit Malyn and other cities in Ukraine and see how Ukrainian courts work in such difficult conditions.

The Chief Justice of the Estonian Supreme Court added that the members of the delegation were pleased to see and feel the results of their country's assistance, and that the judges would encourage their fellow citizens to give even more support to the Ukrainian people.

The delegation was also assisted by Lina Hubar, Head of the Division for International Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court, Artem Nikolaienko, interpreter of the Supreme Court, and Triin Parts, Senior Counsellor of the Embassy of Estonia in Ukraine.