The 2020 administrative-territorial reform merged hundreds of districts in Ukraine into much smaller, consolidated districts. It would be logical to expect that all courts would immediately receive new names in accordance with the new boundaries. In practice, this did not happen: some courts are still officially named after the old, “pre-reform” district, although the territory they serve has long since changed. We have already written, Why are the names of courts in Ukraine changing? In principle, in this material we will analyze in more detail why some courts still retain their old names and how this affects the processing of documents.
The discrepancy between the administrative map and the names of the courts is not a mistake of a single court, but a consequence of the fact that the judicial reform and the administrative-territorial reform proceeded at different paces and according to different procedures.
The judicial network is being reformed by a separate legislative mechanism, not automatically synchronized with the administrative map.
The administrative-territorial reform changed the boundaries of districts with a single decision, while the reorganization of courts is taking place gradually, court by court, through separate legislative acts.
Changing the boundaries of the district does not automatically change the status of the court: until a separate decision on renaming or reorganization is made, the court continues to operate under its historical name.
For courts located near a combat zone or in temporarily occupied territory, the issue of renaming is postponed - the priority is to ensure the operation of the court in principle.
Small local courts that were not included in the first phase of the judicial network reform are operating under their previous names until their turn comes.
There is no single public list — but typical categories help you understand where you should check the name especially carefully.
| Court category | Why is the name still old? | What does this mean for the plaintiff? |
|---|---|---|
| Local courts of small communities | Not included in the priority plan for judicial reorganization after the administrative reform | The name in the lawsuit must correspond to the current name of the court, not the new name of the enlarged district. |
| Courts in frontline and temporarily occupied territories | Renaming postponed — priority given to ensuring the functioning of the court | It is worth additionally checking whether the functions of the court have been transferred to another, temporarily designated institution. |
| Courts awaiting merger | The decision on reorganization has been made, but the transition period has not yet ended. | It is possible for the old and new names to coexist in different official sources at the same time. |
| Courts in large cities with a historical district name | The historical name of a district in a metropolis does not always coincide with the formal administrative division. | The name of the court may remain unchanged even after the district boundaries on the city map are changed. |
Although there is no universal list, in large cities the changes occurred gradually. Below are the most illustrative examples of renaming city courts, where the old name was replaced with the current one.
| Old name of the court | New/current court name |
|---|---|
| Moskovsky District Court of Kharkiv | Saltivskyi District Court of Kharkiv |
| Suvorovsky District Court of Odessa | Peresypsky District Court of Odessa |
| Malinovsky District Court of Odessa | Hadzhibeyskyi District Court of Odessa |
| Leninsky District Court of Dnipro | Central District Court of Dnipro |
| Zhovtnevyi District Court of Dnipro | Soborny District Court of Dnipro |
To avoid having your claim returned due to an inaccurate name, verify the current information before submitting documents.
Перевірити на порталі «Судова влада України» →There is no universal public register of “which courts have not yet been renamed” — so the check always comes down to comparing several sources. We have already examined in detail, why data about the court in the EUITS may differ from the real one, and the same logic applies to titles: digital services are updated with a delay, so it's worth checking several sources at once.
If the name of the court has not changed, but the territory it serves raises doubts, it is no longer a question of name, but of jurisdiction. We are conducting a separate current list of changes in court jurisdiction, which collects recent legislative changes regarding which court now hears cases in a particular territory.
An error in the name of the court has the same consequences that we wrote about in the article about preparation of documents for a lawyer: an inaccuracy in a procedural document means the return of the claim and loss of time. Therefore, checking the name of the court is as much a mandatory preparation step as collecting evidence or calculating the court fee.
The discrepancy between the administrative map and the names of the courts is unlikely to disappear anytime soon - the reform of the court network is ongoing gradually. Until this process is completed, the only reliable way to avoid errors is to check the current name of the court immediately before each submission of documents, rather than relying on memory or an old folder with templates.
Why do some courts still have the old name of the district and how to check this before submitting documents?
The administrative-territorial reform changed the boundaries of districts with a single decision, while the reorganization of courts is taking place gradually, through separate legislative acts. Therefore, a court may retain its old name for years, even if the territory it serves has already changed.
No. A court is a separate legal entity, and changing the administrative boundaries of a district does not automatically rename it. The old name remains in effect until a separate decision is made to rename or reorganize a specific court.
Most often, these are small local courts that did not fall into the first round of judicial reorganization, courts in frontline and temporarily occupied territories, as well as courts awaiting the completion of the unification procedure.
The most reliable way is to check several sources at once: the official portal "Judicial Authority of Ukraine", the latest court decisions in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, and, if necessary, a phone call to the court office.
No, there is no public list of "which courts have not yet been renamed." The check always comes down to checking current sources immediately before submitting documents, and not to searching for a ready-made list.
An inaccuracy in the name of the court in a procedural document can lead to the return of the claim and loss of time - just like any other error in the preparation of documents for the court.
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