Administrative suit filed against Oleksandr Moroz

On 19 January an administrative suit was lodged in the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv against the unlawful actions of a public official with state powers. The person named in the suit is the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz. The claimant, Oleksiy Svyetikov from Severodonetsk alleges that through his unlawful actions Oleksandr Moroz has deprived him of his constitutional right to approach the Human Rights Ombudsperson for protection of his rights. The claim states that pursuant to Article 6 of the Law “On the Authorised Human Rights Representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine”, voting for a Human Rights Ombudsperson should take place no earlier than 10 days, but no later than 20 days after the expiration of the period for putting forward candidates for this office. Since the said period ended on 28 December (and two candidates were put forward), the Deputies should have elected a Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsperson between 8 and 18 January. The Verkhovna Rada scheduled a date for this vote in accordance with the law – 11 January. However on 9 January, Oleksandr Moroz postponed the voting. Furthermore, according to media reports, he took this step entirely upon himself. This means that he himself violated the norm set out in Article 6 of the Law. The claimant asserts that Ukrainian legislation does not allow for an acting Human Rights Ombudsperson and therefore, in his opinion, there is de jure no Ombudsperson in Ukraine. This means that the claimant’s right to make an application to the Ombudsperson, foreseen in Article 55 of the Ukrainian Constitution, has been violated. There is no information at present as to when the claim will be reviewed.. Luhansk Regional Branch of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine