Not a single judge, who banned rallies during Euromaidan protests, is punished so far – activists

Ukraine has punished not a single judge, who banned peaceful assemblies during Euromaidan protests, for two years and a half.

The law on restoration of trust in the Ukrainian judiciary makes it possible to check the compliance with the oath of the judges, who delivered unlawful judgments during Euromaidan protests, including on prohibition of peaceful assemblies. However, no judge has been brought to justice, Lesia Shutko writes for Ukrayinska Pravda Ukrainian online newspaper.

As the author notes, more than 50 such judgments were delivered in different regions of Ukraine over that period of time. The injunctions were often delivered without proper reasoning for a very long period of time – up to four months.

At first, the ad hoc commission to inspect the judges of courts of general jurisdiction, established at the request of the law on restoration of trust in the Ukrainian judiciary, recommended on September 24, 2014 that the High Council of Justice of Ukraine (HCJ) should dismiss judges Sanin, Lichevetsky and Melnychuk for breaking the oath.

However, due to the fact that the law terminated the powers of the HCJ members, who were appointed during the Yanukovych presidency, and the formation of the new composition of this body was blocked for a long time, the case started to be considered only a year later.

January 26, 2016, the HCJ’s disciplinary section agreed with the conclusion of the ad hoc commission. However, April 14 of the same year, it was not supported by the majority of members of the Council.

The HCJ reasoned that, saying that the judges simply made mistake and their judgments cannot be viewed as abuse of power or gross negligence.