In November 2022, the competition for the election of the new Director of the National Bureau kicked off. By the end of the year, its first stages took place: the circle of candidates who passed further was determined, while each of them was tested for legislation knowledge. As a result, 50 persons remained, looking forward to four more stages in 2023.

Despite a five-month hiatus, the eCase Management System was put back into operation on August 1. At the end of December, it contained data on 327 criminal proceedings, that is almost every second investigation conducted by detectives. During this period, it was possible to complete the integration of eCase MS with the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and start preparations for integration with the "D-3" court system, which will allow detectives to file motions with the court online. All these outcomes once again prove that NABU is an institutionally stable structure with effective management and development model.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war with the russian federation, more than 8 million citizens have left Ukraine (according to the UN Refugee Agency as of Jan. 31, 2023). However, the invasion affected not only the life of every Ukrainian but also provoked changes in court proceedings. With constant shelling, power cuts, and air raids, court sessions get interrupted, and the duration of criminal proceedings expands dramatically. Besides, judges are faced with forced interruptions in court proceedings as the accused, witnesses, experts, and other participants remain in temporarily occupied territories, have been internally displaced, or left the country.

Questions also arise regarding the cases in which the accused have been mobilized: after the relevant amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code took force, a mobilized person became a reason for the court to stop criminal proceedings. When making such a decision, a judge must examine all the circumstances, namely: the whereabouts of a mobilized person, type of forces, involvement in combat missions, and position. They also have to consider the possibility of ensuring the participation of such an accused person in the court session via videoconference. All this slows down the work of anti-corruption agencies.

The problem of delaying the consideration of cases due to the non-appearance of participants without valid reasons, especially the defense, has not lost its relevance. Such a practice, for example, when considering the extension of detention of a person accused or suspected of committing a particularly serious crime, may lead to a violation of their right to defense and the absence of a legal basis for the court to uphold the motion on extension. According to Art. 52 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the participation of a defense attorney is mandatory in criminal proceedings for particularly serious crimes.

The war in Ukraine showed that the vast majority of judicial procedures and processes need to be adjusted to modern realities. That is why the issue of introducing a remote court and improving the practices of electronic court proceedings in order to fulfill the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine and the implementation of effective justice in martial law is becoming acute.