The destructive TSK of People’s Deputies of Vlasenko-Buzhansky attacks independent institutions

“ It seems that the year 2025 will be remembered for attempts to roll back judicial and anti-corruption reforms. While the Verkhovna Rada is attacking anti-corruption bodies, the Pechersk Court is cracking down on those who disagree. Along with this, the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on investigating possible facts of corruption or corruption-related offenses in law enforcement agencies, courts and judicial authorities (hereinafter referred to as TSC) published a video of a “closed” meeting on the YouTube channel, which was actually an interrogation of Andriy Pasichnyk, the head of the Higher Qualification Commission of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Higher Qualification Commission of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). The Supreme Council of Justice (hereinafter referred to as the Supreme Council of Justice) has already turned to the Supreme Council of Justice in this regard. We understand what is the matter. What is the TSK, and who is included in it? The Verkhovna Rada created the TSK at the end of June 2025. It was voted on the same wave of rollback of reforms, the quintessence of which was an attack on the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (hereinafter – NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter – SAP). The members of the TSC include leading anti-reformers: Serhiy Vlasenko, head of the TSC, known for his fight against the participation of international experts in any commissions; Maksym Buzhanskyi, the deputy chairman, takes the same destructive position, known for the phrase “The only result of the Maidan is the legalization of Nazism”, the author of the amendments on the elimination of the independence of NABU and SAP; Maksym Pavlyuk, organized the implementation of the draft law on the elimination of the independence of NABU and SAP in the committee of the Verkhovna Rada; Hryhoriy Mamka, who regrets the liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (OASK), which was supposed to legalize Yanukovych’s return in February 2022; Valery Hnatenko, involved in the separatism case; Pavlo Frolov, Halyna Tretyakova, Oleksandr Tkachenko, Iryna Konstankevich — unanimously voted FOR draft law 12414, which introduced the dependence of the work of NABU and SAP on the Prosecutor General; Roman Babii, due to the bill of which dozens of unscrupulous judges are trying to stay in office (he is not formally a member of the TSC, but he asked questions during the meeting). In order to legitimize himself, Vlasenko spent weeks spamming a number of public organizations with offers to participate in this TSK, but civil society immediately understood what it was all about. Instead, among the experts, the lawyer Rostyslav Kravets, a well-known figure in the Pavel Vovka films from the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, is mentioned. His candidacy was submitted by the well-known and permanent head of the National Association of Lawyers of Ukraine Lydia Izovitova, a long-time associate of Viktor Medvedchuk. That is, the composition of TSK is really stellar, only Nestor Shufrych is missing… but there is a nuance. Attack on anti-corruption institutions: NABU, SAP, VAKS According to the heads of NABU and SAP, this TSK was actually created to put pressure on the institutions. Head of SAP Oleksandr Klymenko: “We have information that at first it was planned to put pressure on us through this TSK. But then a blitzkrieg happened. However, I think that this tool will be used as well.” NABU Director Semyon Krivonos: “There will always be pressure, because NABU is the body that, along with SAP, investigates top corruption. And pressure can come from the authorities and from oligarchic groups. We are ready for it. The dirty campaign and commissioned materials do not stop, they continue to be published on anonymous telegram channels. There is also a TSK created in the Verkhovna Rada, which investigates alleged corruption in law enforcement agencies. But this TSK pays special attention to NABU. They actively collect and send us requests.” It is worth noting that these statements were already made after the Verkhovna Rada restored the independence of the bodies on July 31, 2025. Next, TSK became interested in the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court (hereinafter – VAKS). In her response to TSK’s questions, the head of VACS Vira Mykhaylenko indicates: “Analysis of the questions addressed to VACS by Commission Chairman S.V. Vlasenko and Commission member H.M. Tretyakova shows that the subject of the Commission’s attention lies outside the plane of the declared purpose of its activity, and the requested information is not related to the tasks facing the Commission. The questions specified in the Commission’s questions related to expenditures from the State of the budget, aimed at maintaining the VAKS, which has signs of unauthorized excessive collection of information about the activities of the court and judges.” Attack on the Supreme Court of Ukraine After considerable criticism in the media, Vlasenko and Buzhansky switched to the work of the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine. TSK was interested in public information about some candidates for the appeals courts who scored high points during the competition. Among them are the current members of the Ukrainian Communist Party of Ukraine, relatives of members of the Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, as well as representatives of the Commission’s secretariat. TSC members paid special attention to Andrii Pasichnyk, the head of the VKKS, who checked the practical works of the contestants. He was summoned to a “closed” session for questioning (as a witness, according to Vlasenko), which was later published on YouTube. Did the members of the TSK have the right to do this after declaring the session “closed”, and is this an interference in the work of the VKKS? In our opinion, there is. This is not the first intervention in the work of the National Committee of the People’s Deputies. In March 2025, in particular at Buzhanskyi’s initiative, the State Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter referred to as the State Bureau of Investigation) conducted searches at the State Criminal Court for a number of registered criminal proceedings, after the members of the Commission “dared” to determine the dates of the exams within the framework of the qualification assessment for judges of the prestigious capital courts – Pecherskyi and Shevchenkivskyi. The VKKS appealed to the VRP for protection, and the latter drew the attention of the SBI to prevent the work of the VKKS from being blocked. Returning to the almost three-hour session of the TSK (actually the questioning of Pasichnyk), the main claim of the People’s Deputies was that the candidates who scored high during the tests on knowledge of the law and cognitive abilities, received low scores during the practical task (writing the motivational and resolutive part of the court decision). Apparently, during this stage, manipulations with the rating of candidates took place. Although most members of the TSC began to understand what was being discussed only during the meeting. The emphasis of TSC was precisely on practical tasks, and there are indeed problems here – since the introduction of these tasks 15 years ago. Experts and the public have repeatedly emphasized the need to make the verification of practical works more transparent. According to Andriy Pasichnyk, the VKKS does not publish practical works due to ethical considerations (here TSK members supported him). A probationary judge-candidate will be able to reproach him for failing the exam for the rest of his life. But this is a separate issue, and the DEJURE Foundation once again calls on the VKKS to amend its Regulations in order to avoid any potential abuses. The members of the TSC during the meeting were very interested in whether the works were really anonymous. If you think about it, it is impossible to make the work completely anonymous – a conditional candidate can always leave a tricky note in the work (this was also said by the members of the TSK), which can be recognized by the examiner, so as long as there is human involvement, all safeguards will not be enough. In addition, the TSK put pressure on Pasichnyk for checking the practical works in printed form outside the premises of the VKKS. He is allowed to do so by the system, which received the State Special Communications certificate. And why is it wrong, TC members K was not argued. Support group with dubious “accomplishments” Candidate-judge Oleksandr Shuvalov, who was invited to a “closed” meeting of the TSC (she did not score the minimum score for the practical exam — 105), refused Pasichnyk’s offer to discuss the grounds for his assessment. That is, here the candidates seem to have no arguments regarding the bias of the evaluations. Candidate judge Taras Zayets was also invited to the TSK meeting. He is known for rulings on protesters during the Revolution of Dignity, and received as many as three findings of non-compliance from the Public Integrity Council (GRD) in 2019, 2024, and 2025. As a matter of fact, Zayets had no complaints about the inspection of practical works, but rather complained about the wide discretion of the VKKS and the State Government during the assessment of his integrity, which he described with the words “I’m a poet, I see it that way.” What will happen next? It seems that on October 28, the members of the TSK concluded that circumstances have been established that may indicate a violation of anti-corruption legislation, as well as other norms regulating the procedure for selecting judges. The TSC decided to contact the law enforcement authorities to check the given facts and conduct an investigation within the framework of criminal proceedings. That is, the history of attacks on VKKS may repeat itself — interrogations, searches, other pressure measures… A new meeting of the TSC is scheduled for November 4. At this rate, sooner or later, its members will find their victim. If it doesn’t work out with the VKKS, the next members will be the members of the Grand Central Committee, whom Buzhanskyi demanded to bring to the meeting by force at the beginning of October. The People’s Deputies did return the independence of NABU and SAP from under the stick, but kept TSK just in case. We call on the Verkhovna Rada to independently stop the destructive activities of the TSK, and not to disrupt the process of selecting judges for the appellate courts, where the shortage of personnel is more than 60%. Instead, it would be worthwhile to support judicial reform and return international experts to the process of selecting members of the Supreme Court and fulfill international obligations regarding the introduction and verification of declarations of integrity of judges, in particular the Supreme Court.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua