If Hetmantsev's guilt is proven, he may face criminal punishment - lawyer

If found guilty in court of interfering in the activities of the judiciary, the head of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, may face criminal liability. This opinion was expressed by lawyer Andriy Leshchenko in an exclusive commentary to UNN.

Earlier, Hetmantsev published several posts on his Telegram channel in which he called on the public to put pressure on the court and openly criticized the judges' decisions. Judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv Vitaliy Tsyktych appealed to the High Council of Justice and the Office of the Prosecutor General with a statement about pressure from Hetmantsev and the MP's attempts to influence the court's decisions and interfere in its activities.

The application for pressure is considered by the HCJ, then, if it is substantiated, the High Council of Justice satisfies it and  the information  is transferred  to the authorized bodies - the Office of the Prosecutor General or the authorized pre-trial investigation bodies. Subsequently, after receiving a report of a crime, law enforcement agencies are obliged to enter information about the criminal offense  into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and initiate a pre-trial investigation

He added that if the court  finds  the person guilty, he faces  criminal punishment for interference in the activities of the judiciary.

"There may be criminal liability under Article 376 of the Criminal Code on interference in the activities of the judiciary. But here we need to find out what was the purpose of the criminal offense -  to obstruct the performance of official duties of a judge  or  to achieve an unjust decision," Leshchenko said.

The lawyer added that this criminal offense  is a minor crime, and under part 1 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is punishable by a fine or correctional labor for up to two years, and under part 2 of this article  the maximum punishment for it is  imprisonment for up to 3 years.

Recall

Denys Neviadomskyi, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Retired Judges, emphasized that Hetmantsev violates the Criminal Code of Ukraine with such calls. According to him, the MP, in particular, calls for interference in the work of the court and violates the presumption of innocence.

Lawyer Dmytro Kasyanenko noted that Hetmantsev's post could be regarded as pressure on the judge and influence on his decision. Lawyer Serhiy Lysenko noted that Hetmantsev is trying to influence the court through public opinion and takes on the role of a judge by determining which decision of Themis will be legal in the criminal proceedings on illegal tobacco.