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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
She will be able to hold the relevant position until the maximum 65-year age.
The Analytical Center DEJURE Foundation drew attention to President Volodymyr Zelensky's Decree No. 913 of 15 September, by which he appointed judge Olena Izovitova-Vakim to the Kharkiv Administrative Court. For the first time in seven years he did this for an unlimited term, meaning she will be able to hold this post without a "deadline," until reaching the maximum 65-year age.
Izovitova-Vakim is "known" for two scandalous rulings she issued in the 2013-th — prohibiting peaceful assemblies in Kharkiv in support of Euromaidan, lawyers recall. In January 2023-th she failed the qualification assessment: the conclusion of the High Qualification Commission of Judges stated that she, as a judge, does not meet the requirements for the position at the same Kharkiv District Administrative Court, after which a submission to remove her from office was sent to the High Council. However, in May 2025-th the non-reformed Supreme Court overturned this decision after an appeal.
Meanwhile, Lidia Izovitova — the mother of the judge — is an ally of Vladimir Putin's cousin and the leader of the banned OPZZh Viktor Medvedchuk. During the Revolution of Dignity she held the post of head of the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine and supported the "dictatorial laws" that the Verkhovna Rada voted for 16 January 2014-th with gross procedural violations (deputies simply raised their hands, granted their votes without discussion and without using the 'Rada' system), which significantly restricted fundamental rights of citizens, freedoms of the media, and blocked large-scale anti-government protests. And in March 2026-th, when Op was still led by Andriy Yermak, Izovitova-senior appointed him head of one of the committees of the NAAU. The official was charged with corruption shortly after this, in May.
For years, the bar has remained a "blind spot" of anti-corruption policy: self-government without rotation, access to the profession without transparent rules, discipline as an instrument of pressure. Yet the state has first officially recognized that this is not an internal matter of the profession, but a problem of the entire justice system. Read about this in the article "Bar: can the Anti-Corruption Strategy cut through the Gordian knot" by international journalist Volodymyr Kim.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Зеленський вперше за сім років безстроково призначив скандальну суддю Євромайдану Ізовітову-Вакім у Харківський окружний адмінсуд". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
