The use of AI in the field of justice and the functioning of the judicial system of Ukraine in the realities of war: Secretary of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court pays working visit to Strasbourg

Vitalii Urkevych, Secretary of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, took part in the 3rd Global Forum on Enforcement ‘Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights and Enforcement of Court Decisions in Civil and Commercial Matters: What Guarantees for Litigants?’ and the 43rd Plenary Meeting of the European Commission on the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), which took place in Strasbourg (France).

The 3rd Global Forum on Law Enforcement was dedicated to discussing technological advances and ethical issues related to the widespread use of artificial intelligence in the legal sphere.

As part of the 43rd CEPEJ plenary session, Vitalii Urkevych briefed the European audience on the current situation in the Ukrainian judicial system, which is operating in the context of a full-scale war unleashed by Russia.

‘In addition to the shortage of judges, we have faced damage to court premises and power outages caused by Russian shelling,’ said the Secretary of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

He noted that the territorial jurisdiction of more than 80 courts has been changed. A significant number of judges and their family members were forced to leave the frontline and temporarily occupied territories, and some judges were transferred to other courts. As of the beginning of December 2024, 136 judicial institutions in Ukraine have been damaged as a result of full-scale armed Russian aggression. All this and constant security threats impede the consideration of cases.

Vitalii Urkevych reminded his foreign colleagues that there are victims among judges killed by the aggressor state. For example, at the end of September 2024, Supreme Court Judge Leonid Loboiko was killed in Kharkiv region as a result of enemy shelling.

However, Vitalii Urkevych noted that despite all the obstacles, Ukrainian courts are working quite effectively in the current situation. The judicial system continues to protect the rights of individuals and legal entities.

During the first half of 2024, Ukrainian courts received more than 2 million 250 thousand cases and materials. The Supreme Court received 46 thousand cassation appeals during this period.

In the first half of this year, Ukrainian courts considered over 2 million 118 thousand cases (94% of the total number of cases). The Supreme Court reviewed 96% of the cases.

At the same time, the national courts faced a legal challenge in bringing Russia to justice. In cases on recovery of damages caused by Russian aggression, the Supreme Court holds the position that national courts should ignore Russia's jurisdictional immunity due to blatant human rights violations by the aggressor state.

Vitalii Urkevych also expressed his gratitude to his European colleagues for their continued support of the Ukrainian judiciary.