MENU
Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine

The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

Law-enforcers or accomplices in violating law

21.05.2000   
A.Svetikov, Severodonetsk
Is it you who complained?. That was the first phrase which a representative of the association. Zeleny Svit. heard in the city prosecutor. s office last Wednesday.. Yes, that is us.. The complaint in question was handed to Lugansk region prosecutor. s office for the actions of Severodonetsk prosecutor. s office. The object of the complaint is amazing even for our troubled times.

On 12 March Severodonetsk town council took a decision, according to which the right for a free transportation within the town, which is stipulated by a number of Ukrainian laws, shall act only during 4 hours a day. In other time handicapped, war and labor veterans, members of Chernobyl salvation teams had to pay for their transportation as other people. This openly illegal decision did not cause much resistance of 40 thousand of people whose interests were impaired. These people flocked into trolleys during the four permitted hours. In the remaining time trolleys transported atmospheric air.

Local human rights protection activists from. Zeleny Svit. were interested not so much in privileges, as in the principle which establishes the superiority of law. A law must be obeyed, even if one is quite sure that the law is bad, otherwise we shall have chaos. So. Zeleny Svit. turned to V.Gubanov, the head of the Severodonetsk town court, with the complaint at the illegal decision of the town council, basing upon Part 2, Article 248(1) of the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine. Simultaneously, according to Part 3, Article 248(4), we suggested to suspend the decision of the town council from the day of handing the complaint until the court decision. We appended to the complaint a copy of the. Zeleny Svit. statute which states the right of the association to turn to state organs for defending rights of its members (we have within our organizations veterans and Chernobyl liquidators). The reaction of the judicial power was fast. Next day judge T.Kovaliova ordered to refuse our complaint, referring to Chapter 14 of the Civil Procedural Code, which exactly stipulates the rightfulness of such a claim. She proposed to turn to the arbitration tribunal. We complained about this decision to the town prosecutor. s office, which did not hurry with the response, but at last gave birth to a response which struck us with the degree of knowledge of the Ukrainian legislation. It read:. & the resolution by the judge of Severodonetsk town court T. Kovaliova is legal, well-grounded and may not be cancelled, since, according to your claim, the decision of Severodonetsk town council is contrary to the Constitution, but, according to Part 1, Article248(3) of the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine, the decisions of executive and judicial power having to be considered as to their accordance with the Constitution lie outside the competence of the courts... Zeleny Svit. decided to appeal to the region prosecutor. s office. Now the town prosecutor. s office is unhurriedly collecting materials to answer the region prosecutor. s office, and all that, we suspect, will take much time. And meanwhile the laws of Ukraine are cynically trampled, and the decision of the town council continues to act, already for three months. As we see, not without assistance of the court and prosecutor. s offices.
 Share this