Olena Kibenko
Olena Kibenko
Associate Professor of the Department of Private Law
Associate Professor, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. From 2017 to 2021, she served in the Grand Chamber, and since 2021 she has served in the Cassation Commercial Court of the Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she had a distinguished career in both academia and private legal practice, with a focus on commercial, corporate, and international private law.
From 2002 to 2011, she was a Senior Partner at the leading Ukrainian law firm Inyurpolis. She later co-founded and served as Managing Partner of her own firm, Kibenko, Onika & Partners. Alongside her legal practice, she dedicated more than two decades to academia: first at the Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine (1994–2011), where she taught in the Department of Business Law and International Private Law, and later at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (2011–2017), where she taught in the Department of Civil Law.
Judge Kibenko is the author of more than 160 publications on corporate and commercial law, contract law, and judicial reform. Her notable books include Corporate Governance (2007), Company Law: Comparative Study of EU Acquis and Ukrainian Legislation (2006), European Company Law at the Stage of Fundamental Reforms (2005), Business Law of Ukraine (2005), Company Law of Great Britain (2003), International Private Law (2003), and Company Law of Ukraine (2001).
She led the Supreme Court’s Management and Communications Working Group (2017–2021) and coordinated its Strategic Development Group (2021–2022). She specializes in the digitalization of justice and was a member of the expert group in the EBRD project on online courts. A strong advocate of plain language in legal writing, Judge Kibenko has administered an open Facebook group on judicial writing for over five years and frequently delivers public lectures on the subject.
Judge Kibenko devotes significant time and energy to advancing judicial reform in Ukraine. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the project The Dynamics of the Judiciary in Ukraine, implemented by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). Together with other judicial experts involved in the project, she co-authored the concept paper "Proposals for Strengthening the Capacity of the Ukrainian Judiciary in the Short- and Long-Term Perspectives"(2024).
From 2002 to 2011, she was a Senior Partner at the leading Ukrainian law firm Inyurpolis. She later co-founded and served as Managing Partner of her own firm, Kibenko, Onika & Partners. Alongside her legal practice, she dedicated more than two decades to academia: first at the Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine (1994–2011), where she taught in the Department of Business Law and International Private Law, and later at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (2011–2017), where she taught in the Department of Civil Law.
Judge Kibenko is the author of more than 160 publications on corporate and commercial law, contract law, and judicial reform. Her notable books include Corporate Governance (2007), Company Law: Comparative Study of EU Acquis and Ukrainian Legislation (2006), European Company Law at the Stage of Fundamental Reforms (2005), Business Law of Ukraine (2005), Company Law of Great Britain (2003), International Private Law (2003), and Company Law of Ukraine (2001).
She led the Supreme Court’s Management and Communications Working Group (2017–2021) and coordinated its Strategic Development Group (2021–2022). She specializes in the digitalization of justice and was a member of the expert group in the EBRD project on online courts. A strong advocate of plain language in legal writing, Judge Kibenko has administered an open Facebook group on judicial writing for over five years and frequently delivers public lectures on the subject.
Judge Kibenko devotes significant time and energy to advancing judicial reform in Ukraine. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the project The Dynamics of the Judiciary in Ukraine, implemented by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). Together with other judicial experts involved in the project, she co-authored the concept paper "Proposals for Strengthening the Capacity of the Ukrainian Judiciary in the Short- and Long-Term Perspectives"(2024).
Profiles
