Lawyer: Hetmantsev's posts about judges' decisions can be perceived as interference in the work of judicial bodies

The posts of the head of the Tax Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Danylo Hetmantsev, in which he criticizes court decisions and calls on the public not to accept them and to put pressure on judges, can be seen as interference in the work of the judiciary. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Roman Lykhachov, a lawyer at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union's Reception Center.

Earlier, Hetmantsev published several postson 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.

"This can be seen as interference with the judiciary. First of all, it makes sense for a judge to report to the HCJ that there is some interference in his work, and moreover, it can be seen as a threat. It is about committing a possible criminal offense against him (the judge - ed.)," Likhachev said.

At the same time, he added that Hetmantsev's case may be more responsible because he is an MP and his post is a "public call.

"Here we need to examine the text in detail, and most likely there will be a linguistic examination of whether these phrases contained any calls rather than evaluative concepts. Because quite often, in order to avoid responsibility, people write, let's say, in veiled evaluative terms, so that they cannot be held accountable," Likhachev added.

In addition, he noted that law enforcement officers can open criminal proceedings on their own, even without waiting for judges' requests, which Hetmantsev could have pressured. "According to the law, one of the sources of information from which law enforcement officers receive information and must initiate criminal proceedings is social media, journalistic articles, etc. Often the police, for example, write: "After monitoring the media, we found out this and that" and then initiate criminal proceedings," the lawyer explained.

Likhachev reminded that there is Article 376 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for interference in the activities of the judiciary.

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 activities of the court and violates the presumption of innocence.

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