HCJ received nearly 2.3 thousand complaints from judges about interference in their work, more than 500 of which were referred to law enforcement

For almost seven years, the High Council of Justice has received more than 2.3 thousand complaints from judges about interference in the activities of the court, and only more than 500 of them received a positive response. This was reported by the HCJ press service in response to a journalistic inquiry by UNN.

Details

"According to the available HCJ statistics, between 2017 and May 2024, the High Council of Justice received 2,373 reports from judges on interference in the administration of justice. Based on the results of the review, 561 decisions were made to take response measures (by appealing to the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies to provide information on the detection and investigation of crimes; submitting to the relevant authorities or officials a request to identify and bring to justice the persons who committed acts or omitted to act, etc.), and 394 decisions were made on the absence of grounds for taking measures to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice," the response to the request reads.

At the same time, according to the HCJ press service, the register of judges' reports of interference in their activities, published on the website of the High Council of Justice, as of June 21, 2024, contains information on the receipt of 2,293 reports of judges on interference in the administration of justice.

They also added that the High Council of Justice does not separately record information on persons who interfere with the activities of judges, the administration of justice and bringing them to criminal liability.

Recall

Earlier, Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Rada's tax committee, published several postson his Telegram channel, calling on the public to put pressure on the court and openly criticizing 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. After that, Hetmantsev published another post in which he criticized the decision of the panel of judges of the Dnipro District Administrative Court. They acknowledged that the National Bank had made an illegal decision to revoke the license and start liquidating Concord Bank. Presumably, Hetmantsev wanted to influence the judges who would consider the NBU's appeal.

Add

Denys Neviadomskyi, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Retired Judges, emphasized that Hetmantsev violates the Criminal Code of Ukraine with his 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 believesthat 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.