Negative Integrity Conclusion on Samoilenko Olena Anatoliivna: Crimea Connection in Judicial Assessment

What Happened#

On January 31, 2026, the Public Integrity Council approved a negative integrity conclusion on Samoilenko Olena Anatoliivna (Самойленко Олена Анатоліївна), a candidate for a position at appellate court. The conclusion was adopted by 11 of 19 members.

The PIC treated occupied Donetsk as territory equivalent to the Russian Federation in terms of integrity risks, citing the candidate’s parents’ residence there and family connections to occupied territories as grounds for negative conclusion. By equating occupied Ukrainian territory with foreign state territory in terms of security risks and jurisdictional concerns, the PIC implicitly recognized de facto Russian control over these territories.

The Crimea-related element was cited as a direct basis for the negative conclusion.

The Crimea Connection#

The candidate’s close relatives permanently reside under occupation from the very beginning in 2014 of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine to the present time. In the conditions of ongoing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the “urgency of need” to reside in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in each specific case must be evaluated considering the predicted risks and threats primarily to the life and health of the person (judge/candidate) and their close relatives, as well as to state security and national interests of Ukraine in case of detention of such person, their recruitment, etc.

This quote demonstrates how the PIC treats occupied Ukrainian territory as functionally equivalent to foreign enemy territory for security assessment purposes, implicitly recognizing Russian de facto control.

Context#

The Public Integrity Council was established in 2016 as part of post-2014 judicial reform in Ukraine. Its mandate was to assist in vetting judges and judicial candidates based on integrity and professional ethics. While formally an advisory body, its conclusions carried significant weight in qualification proceedings and could directly affect judicial careers.

Under Ukrainian law, Crimea is a temporarily occupied territory under the Law on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime of the Temporarily Occupied Territory (2014). The Constitution of Ukraine affirms Crimea as an integral part of Ukraine whose status cannot be altered without an all-Ukrainian referendum.

By treating Crimea-related connections as integrity risks within a formal assessment framework, the PIC applies an operational logic that treats Crimea as Russian-administered territory — reproducing the same premise that was formally codified in the December 16, 2020 revised Indicators.

Voters#

Verification#

• Official PIC conclusion document dated January 31, 2026, available on the Council’s public website.
• Electronic voting record confirming the vote count and participating members.