Judicial independence and communication with society: Supreme Court judges participate in CEELI Institute International Conference

Judge of the Supreme Court in the Commercial Cassation Court Olena Kibenko and Judge of the Supreme Court in the Civil Cassation Court Yevhen Petrov took part in the conference of the Central and Eastern European Judicial Exchange Network titled “Improving the Administration of Justice and Judicial Communication. Judicial Independence, Rule of Law, and Public Trust”. The event was held on May 11–12, 2026, in Prague, Czech Republic.

At the conference, participants presented the new CEELI Institute handbook “Guidelines on Judicial Communication with the Public and the Media”, published in February 2026, and discussed further developments in court administration, which are currently ongoing.

The participants also addressed issues of pressure on judges and mechanisms to counter it, the right/duty of judges to speak publicly on matters important to society and judicial independence, court communication policy, judges’ behaviour on social media, and countermeasures against doxxing (a form of cyberbullying that involves the deliberate search and publication of a judge’s or their family’s personal data online without their consent).