Lawyer tells whether Supreme Court judges can be removed in Knyazev case

The case of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Knyazev, who was detained for bribes totaling $2.7 million, will soon be brought to court. In the meantime, he has been released on bail after the High Anti-Corruption Court reduced the bail amount from UAH 20 million to UAH 18.168 million.  However, in addition to Knyazev, other Supreme Court judges are involved in the criminal proceedings and continue to perform their duties. UNN editorial board asked lawyer Stanislav Batryn whether it is possible to remove judges who are involved in a criminal case.

"According to the general provisions of the law, a judge is inviolable, and without the consent of the High Council of Justice, a judge may not be detained or held in custody or arrest until a court verdict of guilty is delivered, except for the detention of a judge during or immediately after the commission of a grave or especially grave crime. However, a judge may be temporarily suspended from the administration of justice for a period not exceeding two months in connection with criminal prosecution on the basis of a reasoned motion by the Prosecutor General or his deputy," Batryn said.

According to him, the decision to temporarily suspend a judge from administering justice is made by the HCJ.

Batryn added that the extension of the period of temporary suspension of a judge from the administration of justice in connection with criminal prosecution is carried out in the same manner for a period not exceeding two months, and the relevant petition is submitted by the Prosecutor General or his deputy no later than ten days before the expiration of the period for which the judge was suspended. 

"That is, the temporary suspension of a judge is possible even before a guilty verdict in a criminal case, for the duration of the investigation. At the same time, it is carried out on the basis of a reasoned motion of the Prosecutor General or his deputy, and on the basis of a decision of the High Council of Justice.  This requires additional guarantees for the judge, since it is not every day that the Prosecutor General is able to make a reputational decision to file such a petition with the HCJ. Therefore, such a procedure requires a serious evidence base, the prosecutor's confidence that the judge's actions have signs of a criminal offense, which will be confirmed by a court verdict," added Batryn.

Recall

UNN talked about the case of 2023, which involved judges. In particular, it was about the detention for bribery of Knyazev. More than 30 searches were conducted as part of this case. Including other judges of the Supreme Court. The investigation seized "marked funds" from four judges. Despite the NABU's promise, the names of the Supreme Court judges who may be involved in the Knyazev case have not yet been announced.

In addition, last year, the case of the escape of the former MP accused of a series of contract killings and high treason, FSB agent Oleksandr Shepelev, which was also considered by the panel of judges of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, turned out to be no less odious. Judges Vyacheslav Marynych, Volodymyr Korol and Alla Makarovets unexpectedly decided to close one of the episodes of the case, which concerned bribery, due to what they considered insufficient evidence. Commenting on this decision, experts interviewed by UNN, point out that the judges could have been interested in ruling in favor of the FSB agent. 

In addition, at the end of 2023 , the NABU and the SAPO caught four judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal red-handed - Vyacheslav Dziubin, Ihor Palenyk, Viktor Hlynianyi, and Yurii Slyva. They are suspected of receiving 35 thousand dollars in bribes.