The judicial reform in Ukraine faces another setback due to a motion seeking to block appointment  of a newly established Ethics Council member.

According to media reports, the request  was filed in Kyiv Administrative District Court by Oleh Tkachuk,  the former head of Ukraine’s Higher Council of Judges.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the court says ‘they are deciding   if there are sufficient legal grounds to grant the motion’

The Ethics Council was established earlier this year to vet judges nominated  for  rebooted  High Council of Justice,  a powerful judicial establishment that claims a right to appoint, dismiss, punish, and persecute judges

It must have  6 members of mixed composition, with three of them nominated by international organizations, and other three  appointed by Ukraine’s Council of Judges.

The motion is viewed as another effort to stall the judicial reform  by the influential Council of Judges, which earlier failed to delegate their members to the Ethics Council.

The outright sabotage made the government officials  call for another round of recruitment for the Ethics Council in September, and October 21 was the closing day for  application submissions.