The judicial system of Ukraine is outlined in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine. Before this there was no notion of judicial review nor any Supreme Court since 1991's Ukrainian independence. whenit started being slowly restructured.
Although judicial independence exist in principle, in practice there is little separation of juridical and political powers. Judges are subjected to pressure by political and business interests. Ukraine's court system is widely regarded as corrupt.
Although there are still problems with the performance of the system, it is considered to have been much improved since the last judicial reform introduced in 2016. The Supreme Court is regarded as being an independent and impartial body, and has on several occasions ruled against the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian courts enjoy legal, financial and constitutional freedom guaranteed by measures adopted in Ukrainian law in 2010.
The judicial system of Ukraine consists of four levels of courts of general jurisdiction, as follows:
The rulings of the High (sometimes translated as Supreme) Administrative Court of Ukraine can not be appealed.
Since the juridical reform of 2016 judges are appointed by the President of Ukraine upon their nomination by the Supreme Council of Justice. Prior judges were appointed by presidential decree for a period of five years, after which the Ukrainian parliament confirmed them for life in an attempt to insulate them from politics. This 5 year probation period was also abolished in 2016. Judges are protected from dismissal (save in instances of gross misconduct). Immunity from prosecution was guaranteed to judges until 2016. (This immunity could be lifted by parliament.) Currently a judge is protected from liability resulting from their judicial actions only.
Ukraine has about 8,000 judges.