The court overturned the decision to reorganize the Odesa Law Academy
The Kyiv District Administrative Court overturned the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Education and Science to reorganize the National University «Odesa Law Academy» by merging it with the I. I. Mechnikov Odesa National University.
An abridged version (introductory and operative parts) of the Kyiv District Administrative Court’s decision dated September 16, 2026, in Case No. 320/9326/25 has been published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions. Additionally, by its ruling, the court denied the motion filed by the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers to dismiss the administrative case.
In February 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Ministry of Education and Science’s proposal to reorganize the Odesa Law Academy by merging it with Odessa National University named after I. I. Mechnikov (Order No. 111-r dated February 12, 2025 «On the reorganization of the National University «Odesa Law Academy»). The following day, the Ministry of Education and Science issued Order No. 213 dated February 13, 2025, which provided that ONU would become the legal successor to the property, rights and obligations of the Law Academy and its separate structural units.
University employees and its primary labor union organization challenged these decisions. The related administrative cases were subsequently consolidated into a single proceeding.
The Bar Council of Ukraine opposed this reorganization. On March 14, 2025, it adopted Resolution No. 29, in which it supported the university staff in their efforts to preserve the institution as an independent educational institution and decided to appeal to the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Education and Science and other authorities with a request to take appropriate measures.
In its resolution, the BCU highlighted the importance of a specialized law school, educational programs in the field of legal practice, and cooperation between the legal community and academic legal scholarship. It should be noted that the UNBA and the Odesa Law Academy cooperate on the basis of a memorandum signed in April 2017.
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