On December 25, 2023, a letter was sent from the building at 8 Petra Bolbochan Street, signed by Pavlo Vovka, the judge of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (OASC), who previously headed this court. The addressee indicated on the envelope is Hryhoriy Usyk, head of the Supreme Council of Justice (VRP).
Judge Vovk sounded the alarm, convinced Usyk: they said that the authority of the entire Verkhovna Rada - the self-governing body that appoints and dismisses all judges of Ukraine - was under threat. The reason for this is Roman Maselko, a member of the VRP, a former lawyer. According to Vovka, Maselka has "formed a prejudiced attitude" towards a number of judges, and therefore he has "a constant real conflict of interests..., including in relation to judges of the OASK". For such reasons, Judge Vovk advised the head of the Ukrainian People's Party of Ukraine Usyku, Roman Maselka should be released immediately.
The highlight of this story is that more than a year has passed since the liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, however, as we can see, this body is still alive. The "survival" of the District Court under the current conditions may seem absurd. But the fact remains: half a hundred judges of the District Administrative Court, despite its liquidation and despite the war, continue to receive solid salaries, while doing nothing. They do not carry out any justice: they do not issue decisions and resolutions. And some judges, in particular the above-mentioned Pavlo Vovk, who is better known to society for the NABU case "Plivky Vovka", are still trying to further influence the entire justice system.
Millions for beautiful eyes
At the end of November 2023, there were 51 judges in the liquidated District Administrative Court of Kyiv. Practically each of them received more than 1 million hryvnias as a judge's fee based on the results of 11 months. In total, for January-November 2023, OASK judges were awarded UAH 65.3 million in remuneration, of which UAH 51.1 million were paid in hand (taking into account withheld taxes).
In total, for January-November 2023, OASK judges were awarded UAH 65.3 million in remuneration
Some of the judges were not lazy and declared the received money, which was paid to them by the state. In particular, judge Nataliya Klymenchuk indicated that in November 2023 she received UAH 143.8 thousand in salary in the court, which is inactive.
Solid payments "fell" to OASK judges Tetyana Sheyko and Oleksandr Karmazin - UAH 209.6 thousand and UAH 295.4 thousand, respectively. We would like to add that all judges and civil servants are required to declare monthly incomes that exceed 50 subsistence minimums (UAH 134,000) established for able-bodied persons on January 1 of the respective year (UAH 2,684 in 2023).
The earnings of judge Pavlo Vovka, who has a crush on the member of the VRP Maselka, are also considerable.
In 11 months of 2023, Vovk "raised" 1.6 million hryvnias at the same place.
There is no court, and judge Pavlo Vovk earned UAH 1.6 million in 11 months of 2023.
We will remind you that a year ago, the aforementioned member of the Supreme Council of Justice, Roman Maselko, warned: the liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv does not mean the automatic dismissal of judges. They remain judges and will receive a judge's fee without allowances.
Why did Zelenskyi and the Rada "abolish" the court?
Why did such a paradox arise: there is no court, but judges pretend to work and at the same time receive a reward?
Let's go back to the recent past. In April 2021, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi responded to an electronic petition and appeal of anti-corruption public organizations regarding the launch of the liquidation procedure of the capital's District Administrative Court. In particular, the head of state sent the relevant draft law to the Verkhovna Rada as an urgent matter.
"In a democratic society, respect and trust in the court should be unconditional. But where trust dies, so does democracy. OASK had enough time to come to its senses, look at itself in the mirror and find there the simple things that society and the state are looking for in it - justice, impartiality and honesty. Instead, we see another scandal with "tapes", corruption of related persons with safes stuffed with money, and numerous questionable decisions. Trust in the District Administrative Court of Kyiv has been lost," the head of state's website said.
The influence of the District Administrative Court was explained by the category of cases it had to consider.
OASK had the right to consider:
challenging acts of the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, the National Bank and other central government bodies;
appeals against decisions of the Antimonopoly Committee or lawsuits of this committee against other legal entities;
cases on state aid to business entities;
cases against Ukrainian diplomatic missions or diplomats;
cases against bodies that carry out disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors;
cases of liquidation or banning of political parties.
For example, in the fall and winter of 2013, at the height of the Euromaidan, the OASK forbade holding peaceful protests in the center of Kyiv, and on December 9 of the same year, the odious judge Yevhenii Ablov ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the capital's mayor's office to clear a number of streets of barricades and tents, including Independence Square; in 2014-2021, the court protected more than 200 civil servants and law enforcement officers, collecting millions in compensation from the state budget; in April 2019, the court satisfied the lawsuit of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky against the National Bank and the Cabinet of Ministers and declared the nationalization of Privatbank illegal; in 2019, the OASK recognized the illegal ban on the entry of actor Fedor Dobronravov into Ukraine and annulled the ban on the rebroadcast of some films with his participation, in particular, the TV series "Matchmakers"; in January 2021, the court canceled the new version of Ukrainian spelling.
The peak of cynicism in the history of this court was the consideration of the lawsuits filed by ex-president Viktor Yanukovych in November-December 2021, that is, on the eve of Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine. They noted that on February 22, 2014, the parliament did not have the authority to vote on the resolution on the self-removal of the president of Ukraine from the exercise of constitutional powers and the appointment of extraordinary presidential elections. Also, according to Yanukovych, in 2015 the Rada illegally deprived him of the title of President of Ukraine.
A priori, the court should have denied the fugitive president due to missing the deadline for challenging acts of parliament. However, two claims of the former president were taken into consideration. The final verdict (rejecting both lawsuits) was given by the OASK only at the end of April 2022, when it became clear that the occupiers had retreated from the capital.
As "Glavkom" wrote, the version that judges of OASK deliberately "pickled" Yanukovych's cases, waiting for the development of events at the front, is quite logical. As the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Reserve Major General Oleksandr Petrulyvych, confirmed in an interview with "Gordon", the court was supposed to make a decision on Yanukovych immediately after the Russians took Kyiv.
"Russia has already prepared the president. And here is the aspect of personal satisfaction of a specific person - Putin. He was insulted in 2004, when Yanukovych did not become president. In 2010, he "beat" him to the post of president. Reinstate him in office, change the power to us - and the state is completely controlled by Russia. Everything was clearly planned, but no one paid attention to it. Now I have a question: where are the judges who made these decisions? Has anyone filed any complaints against them? I'm not talking about criminal prosecution. Did they not understand what they were doing? They understood very well," Petrulevich is confident.
In general, despite all the mentioned scandals and suspicions, parliamentarians needed more than a year to consider the urgent presidential draft of the law on the liquidation of the capital court.
What's next?
Journalists sent requests to the State Judicial Administration and the High Council of Justice with a request to inform about the further fate of the premises of the District Administrative Court (Velika Vasylkivska, 81A and Petra Bolbochana Streets, 8), as well as the further employment or dismissal of judges of the District Administrative Court. After all, according to the law, Kyiv City District Administrative Court should appear in place of OASK. Until the creation of the new court, all cases of the OASK are transferred to the Kyiv District Administrative Court.
The premises of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv are located at the address Petro Bolbochan, 8
photos from open sources
By the way, the transfer of cases from OASK to the Kyiv District Administrative Court was supposed to take place within 10 days. But there is skidding here too. In the first half of 2023, 30,086 cases and materials were received by the Kyiv District Administrative Court out of about 64,000 cases and materials pending in the proceedings of the liquidated court.
The State Judicial Administration responded dryly to the point: the further fate of the two buildings of the Kyiv District Administrative Court will be decided after the completion of the liquidation procedures. And they clarified: the liquidation of OASK itself "takes a long time."
As for the further transfer of judges from the liquidated OASK, during the year only judge Volodymyr Donets expressed such a desire. The Supreme Council of Justice "seconded" him to the Kyiv District Administrative Court.
Within a year after the liquidation of the OASK, only judge Volodymyr Donets expressed a desire to transfer to another court
Two more servants of Themis, Alyona Mazur and Yevhenii Ablov, have asked to resign. By the way, the last VRP does not want to resign voluntarily. And, most likely, he intends to dismiss "according to the article" - for committing a significant disciplinary offense. On December 26, a message appeared on the website of the High Council of Justice: consideration of Ablov's application has been stopped pending consideration of disciplinary complaints that were previously received against this judge.
At the height of Euromaidan, on December 9, 2013, Judge Yevhen Ablov ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the capital's mayor's office to remove barricades and tents from Maidan Nezalezhnosti and other streets.
The fact is that Judge Ablov is known for a number of scandalous decisions. A voice similar to Ablov's was also recorded on the infamous "Wolf tapes." There he turned to the ex-chairman of OASK Pavlo Vovk with a proposal: "Boss, let's figure something out. I'm ready." According to the investigation, the criminal organization led by the ex-head of the District Administrative Court (a total of 12 people) aimed to seize state power by establishing control over the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the High Council of Justice and creating artificial obstacles in their work.
In July 2019, NABU conducted a search of the OASK building, and records known as "Vovka tapes" became publicly available. On them, a person whose voice is similar to the voice of court chairman Pavlo Vovka discusses with other interlocutors the influence on courts and authorities, as well as how to "seize" and "hold" power. In part of the recordings, a man with a voice similar to Vovk flaunts that he agreed on the non-discipline of some judges of the OASK, who issued decisions banning rallies on the Maidan in 2013 and other decisions against the participants of the Revolution of Dignity. In particular, we are talking about Bohdan Sanin and Yevgeny Ablov. Based on these facts, NABU and SBU initiated criminal proceedings against Vovka and his colleagues.
Pavlo Vovk himself denies the authenticity of these records. But he declares that, in his opinion, this is how foreign agents on behalf of other states are trying to seize the judicial power in Ukraine in order to deprive the country of its sovereignty.
In addition, there was information about a wanted ad for the son of judge Ablov. Law enforcement officers suspect Ivan Ablov of intentional murder. It happened on January 1, 2024.
At the same time, the head of the Supreme Council of Justice, Hryhoriy Usyk, assured that all judges of the OASK will undergo a thorough check. "None of them have passed a qualification assessment, and without it they cannot be transferred to another court. Therefore, fears that they will be automatically transferred to a new court are in vain," said the head of the VRP in an interview with the mass media.
However, Mr. Usyk did not clarify the key point: how much longer will the war-making state finance the inactive servants of Themis at the expense of taxpayers?
