Lawyer: SBI investigators can be held liable for failure to comply with court decision to open criminal proceedings

Investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation are obliged to open criminal proceedings within a day of receiving a court order. In case of failure to comply with the court decision, they can be brought to disciplinary responsibility. This opinion was expressed by lawyer Serhiy Lysenko in an exclusive commentary to UNN.

Context

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv ordered representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation to open criminal proceedings against officials of the State Tax Service following a statement by Olena Sosedka, co-owner of Concord Bank, about severe property damage to the financial institution's shareholders. In her statement, she said that a group of officials had committed an intentional serious crime by exceeding their official authority. In particular, Sosiedka stated that officials of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, in particular the management, including the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Work with Large Taxpayers, used power or official position against the interests of the service, and also entered knowingly false information into an official document, which caused serious property consequences for the shareholders of JSC Concorde Bank. Liability for committing these crimes is provided for by Part 2 of Article 364, Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Despite the fact that the court made the relevant decision on April 11, 2024, according to Sosedka, investigators have not yet informed her about the execution of the court decision and the opening of criminal proceedings.

Within a day from the date of receipt of the relevant court decision on the SBI body (criminal proceedings should be opened - ed.), as required by Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine,

At the same time, he said, Ukrainian law currently does not provide for direct and effective liability for failure to comply with a court order that obliges investigators to enter information about a crime into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and initiate criminal proceedings.

If they don't comply (with the court ruling - ed.), we can write complaints that they are violating the law by not entering the information, and bring them to disciplinary responsibility for not complying with the law and the court. But this is a long road,

The lawyer emphasized that investigators do not comply with court orders in exceptional cases. In his opinion, it is easier for them to open criminal proceedings and not investigate them than to fail to comply with a court order.

When there is a court decision, it is not enforced in some cases. It's easier to comply and then investigate the case in a lax manner than not to comply and then receive complaints,

Recall

The State Tax Service conducted an audit of Concord Bank after the NBU's decision to liquidate it. The audit lasted three months and, according to Olena Sosiedka, resulted in a report that stated violations totaling UAH 700 thousand. However, according to Sosedka, on the personal instruction of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, the tax authorities illegally "added" UAH 392 million. The Deposit Guarantee Fund, represented by the liquidator of Concord Bank, appealed this act to the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers. After that, an additional tax audit was ordered, which is still ongoing.