High Council of Justice suspends disciplinary case against judge who ran over National Guard officer at checkpoint
1 February 2024 11:11
The Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice has indefinitely suspended the consideration of the case against judge Oleksiy Tandyr, who ran over a National Guard member at a checkpoint to his death. The HCJ members made this decision at a meeting on 31 January, reports 
The HCJ members explained the suspension of the case by the lack of information to make a decision, and, according to the law, there are only 30 days to make a decision.
“The law provides for a 30-day period to draw up a conclusion and submit it for consideration. At the moment, I do not have any information that would give me a real opportunity to draw up an opinion. I have no [information] other than the application and the characterisation of Judge Tandyr. I need time to determine the amount of evidence and witnesses,”
– said HCJ member Vitaliy Salikhov, who is apparently in charge of the case.
In addition, Salikhov said that he was going on holiday soon, and therefore would not have time to process the necessary documents in any case.
The case of Judge Tandyr
On the night of 26 May 2023, Oleksiy Tandyr, the head of the Makariv District Court of Kyiv Region, ran over National Guard soldier Vadym Bondarenko, who was at a checkpoint, to death with his car. The judge was notified of suspicion of committing a fatal accident while under the influence of alcohol. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, he refused to take a blood alcohol test, but the Bureau forcibly took biological samples with a court order. It turned out that he was intoxicated.
The judges chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention, which has now been extended until 17 February. In August last year, the SBI completed a judicial investigation and on 21 August the case was referred to court. The High Council of Justice only started the disciplinary case against the judge on 10 January this year.
The media reported that Judge Tandyr initially tried to falsify the results of the tests by submitting water and saliva rather than urine for testing. It was also reported that the judge had transferred his property to his wife and divorced her to avoid the seizure of his property.
The absence of a conclusion from the High Council of Justice means that Tandyr is still considered a judge of a Ukrainian court and receives a corresponding salary.
The deceased 22-year-old Vadim Bondarenko is survived by his wife and three children. According to his relatives, he saw his youngest daughter Polina, who was born during the full-scale war, only a few times.
