A professor at the Law Academy was appointed to a position at the Odessa Court of Appeals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Dmytro Tsekhan as a judge of the Odesa Court of Appeals. Prior to this, the High Council of Justice had endorsed his nomination.

The head of state signed the corresponding decree on September 26. 

The document states that Tsekhan was appointed to the position of judge of the Odesa Court of Appeals in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Dmytro Tsekhan holds a Doctor of Law degree and is a professor. He graduated from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law Academy of Ukraine and the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since 2010, he has been working in the field of legal education and serves as a professor in the Department of Criminalistics, Detective Work, and Operational-Investigative Activities at the National University “Odesa Law Academy.” He has been practicing law since 2012.

During the qualification review of Tsehan’s candidacy, the Public Integrity Council raised questions. In particular, the council drew attention to a 2011 Opel Corsa. In his 2022 declaration, Tsekhan stated that he had purchased it for 12,000 hryvnias. The car was no longer listed in his 2024 declaration; however, the declaration did list income of 135,000 hryvnias from the sale of personal property.

The Public Integrity Council assumed that this referred specifically to the Opel Corsa and questioned whether the stated value of the car matched its market price.

Tsehan explained that the car had been imported into Ukraine in 2017 after sustaining serious mechanical damage. According to him, the car had received virtually no repairs for several years, and he began restoring it only after purchasing it. He attributed the car’s value specifically to its mechanical condition.

Questions from the Public Audit Council also concerned Tsehan’s and his family’s declared incomes for 2018 and 2021. The Council compared the stated amounts with average household expenditures in the Odesa region and noted that this data requires further explanation.

Tsehan attributed the discrepancies in information regarding his family composition and income to family circumstances. Specifically, he stated that in 2017–2018, his wife and son primarily lived with relatives in the Rivne region, and by 2021, he was no longer living with his first wife.

The High Qualification Commission of Judges (VKKS) found the explanation regarding the car’s value insufficiently convincing due to the lack of supporting documents. 

Intent also analyzed Dmytro Tsekhan’s annual declaration for 2025.

The document lists an apartment in Odesa with an area of 59.1 square meters. The judge acquired ownership of it on December 25, 2012. The value of the apartment on the date of acquisition was 350,699 hryvnias. The property is jointly owned by Dmytro Tsekhan and his wife, Nina.

No other real estate, construction-in-progress projects, valuable property, or vehicles are listed in the 2025 declaration.

In other words, Tsekhan did not declare a car in his most recent declaration.

The judge’s primary source of income in 2025 was his salary from the National University “Odessa Law Academy”—577,865 hryvnias. He received an additional 34,884 hryvnias from the National Academy of Internal Affairs as a fee and other payments under a civil law transaction.

In total, Tsehan’s declared income for the year amounted to 612,749 hryvnias.

The judge also reported $5,000 in cash.

Ірина Глухова