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Can we stop the hunting season in Zhytomir?

09.12.2001   
E. Zolotarev, Zhytomir
In ‘Prava ludyny’ for December 1999 we published the article ‘The simplest way of building a party system’. This article told that in Zhytomir V. V. Shundrik, the head of the oblast directorate of justice, issued order No. 749/3 of 20 October 1999, in which he, without explaining any reasons, liquidated the record on the legalization of Zhytomir regional organization of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP). This party was, since the moment of its foundation, in opposition to the ruling regimes of Ukraine.

By his illegal actions V. V. Shundrik not only violated the operating law ‘On the order of legalization of unions of citizens’ and Articles 15, 36 and 37 of the Constitution, but also exercised a function of justice, thus trampling Article 124 of the Constitution asserting that justice in Ukraine is realized only by courts.

In December 1999 I handed a complaint against the illegal actions of V. V. Shyndrik to Bogunskiy district court of Zhytomir. I did not hope that the court would accept my complaint. The subsequent events confirmed my fears. On 20 December 1999 A. M. Timoshenko, the judge of Bogunskiy district court, considered my complaint and did not accept it because there were not enough proofs to give me the right to act on behalf of the CDP, although I did not pretend that I acted namely on behalf of this organization: I acted on behalf of the Zhytomir oblast organization headed by me. Not wishing to conflict with the court, on 27 December I handed to Bogunskiy district court the documents confirming my rights. The court considered the documents as insufficient. On 16 January 2000 in my mailbox (from which the correspondence is taken every day) I found a letter from Bogunskiy district court without a date. Inside there was a document dated 5 January, that is the document was delivered eleven days, the distance between the court and the mailbox being 15 minutes drive by trolleybus. I think that the delay of delivery was organized on purpose, to prevent me to hand a cassation complaint. The decision of the court read as follows: ‘According to Article 248-1 of the Civil-Procedural Code of Ukraine a citizen has the right to complain about the actions of civil officers; it follows that the CDP under the existing circumstances has no right to complain and the complaint may not be accepted’. In its ruling the court violated Articles 8, 15 and 36 of the Constitution, as well as Articles 4, 5, 121 of the Civil-Procedural Code. This ruling violated the fundamental right, stipulated in item 2 of Article 4 of the Civil-Procedural Code: ‘refusal of the right of turning to court is invalid’.

On 19 January 2000 I handed a cassation complaint about the ruling of Bogunskiy district court of 5 January to the collegium on civil cases of the Zhytomir oblast court. My complaint was considered at the meeting of the collegium on 11 and 16 February. The court satisfied my cassation complaint and cancelled the decision of Bogunskiy district court of 5 January. The oblast court obliged the district court to accept my complaint about illegal actions of V. V. Shundrik. More then a month passed, but Bogunskiy district court is not in a hurry to execute this decision.
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