Judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court can now partially close access to court decisions issued after hearings that were partly held behind closed doors. In such cases, they no longer have to seal the entire verdict — only the sections related to the confidential parts of the proceedings.

The HACC confirmed this in response to an information request.

In our 2024 monitoring report, we highlighted the issue of entire verdicts being sealed — even when only certain parts of the hearing were closed. This practice unjustifiably hindered public access and the ability to analyze court decisions in high-level corruption cases.

One of the most striking examples was the plea deal verdict involving Mykola Zlochevskyi, which raised serious questions about respect for the public interest.

Since October 2025, the State Enterprise Judicial Information Systems has updated the document management system, enabling judges to restrict access only to sections that truly require confidentiality. This means that when issuing a verdict after a hearing, judges may now limit access only to parts whose disclosure could harm criminal proceedings or undermine the transparency principle of the judicial process.

We expect judges to use these new options wisely so that future access restrictions are balanced with the principle of open justice.