Below is the detailed analysis of the court decision, prepared in accordance with your request:
1. The subject of the dispute is the lawfulness of relieving a person from the duties of a guardian of an incapacitated brother and the appointment of a new guardian in circumstances where the potential candidate for guardianship is a military serviceman who has committed unauthorized absence from his duty station.
2. When rendering its decision, the Supreme Court was guided primarily by procedural rules regarding the composition of the court. The Court emphasized that, in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, cases concerning the appointment, change, or relief from the duties of a guardian must be considered exclusively by a collegiate composition of the court, namely: one judge and two jurors. Since the court of first instance considered this case as a sole judge, this constitutes an unconditional ground for overturning the decision due to the case being heard by an improperly constituted court. The appellate court, in turn, did not rectify this substantial procedural violation, leaving the decision unchanged. The Supreme Court also referred to the legal position set forth in the resolution of the Joint Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court dated September 15, 2025, in case No. 727/5306/24, which confirms the mandatory collegiate consideration of such categories of cases. Given these circumstances, the cassation instance did not proceed to evaluate the parties’ arguments regarding the appropriateness of appointing the guardian, as the procedural violations rendered a lawful consideration of the case on its merits impossible. The Court in this decision explicitly refers to the position of the Joint Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court of September 15, 2025, which establishes the mandatory collegiate consideration of guardianship cases, which is decisive for judicial practice.
3. The Supreme Court overturned the ruling of the Zhytomyr Court of Appeal and remanded the case for a new trial to the court of appellate instance.
