The judicial system may not withstand the increasing number of cases under consideration

According to statistics from the State Judicial Administration, Ukrainian courts dealt with 3.1 million cases in 2023, which is almost one and a half times more than the previous year. The largest increase was seen in administrative and civil cases, as reported by the open data platform “OpenDataBot”.

It was observed that civil cases, particularly those involving utility debts and divorce, were the most common types brought before the courts. Utility debt cases, totaling 321 thousand, and divorce cases, reaching 121 thousand, were especially prevalent. Furthermore, over 80 thousand civil cases were related to loan disputes. In administrative matters, the majority of court appeals pertained to pension issues, with approximately 319 thousand cases. Meanwhile, commercial disputes, left to the court’s discretion, also made up a significant portion of the caseload.

Nevertheless, these disputes did not rank in the top 10 among the overall volume of cases. In commercial courts, cases related to order production and disputes over the supply of goods, services and energy carriers were most common. Additionally, the number of personal bankruptcy cases has been increasing annually, with 1.2 thousand such cases initiated in the previous year. These cases, a relatively recent occurrence, began with the declaration of an “ordinary person” as bankrupt in late 2019. Among criminal cases in the past year, theft cases were the most prevalent, followed by cases involving the cancellation of asset arrests and non-distribution drug offenses.