Court refuses a review of MinCult conclusions on "violations" in the Lavra

Economic Court of Kyiv. Photo: informator.press

The Economic Court of Kyiv rejected the application of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to appoint a construction and technical expertise to verify the conclusions of the Ministry of Culture that the monastery allegedly violated the terms of the agreement on the use of buildings and structures. This was told by the lawyer of the monastery, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, after a preparatory hearing on the suit of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra against the National Reserve of the same name to invalidate the termination of the contract.

“It is impossible for persons who are not specialists in the field of urban planning to determine just on the basis of some agreements, charters and photographs whether the monastery really violated urban planning norms and kept the buildings in poor condition,” the lawyer wrote in his Telegram channel. “Conducting a construction and technical expertise should have answered these questions, without answering which the court cannot fully and comprehensively consider the case. However, the court sees no need for it.”

In addition, the court rejected the requests of the defense of the monastery to consider the case not by one judge, but by a panel of judges, and to involve the Ministry of Culture in the case.

“A petition has been filed to involve a third party in the case – the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine – for a full and comprehensive consideration of the case and the opportunity to get an explanation of how the checks were carried out. Unfortunately, the court also refuses to do so. Given the complexity of the case and the significant public outcry, the monastery asked that the case be considered collectively in order to minimize any pressure on the judge and increase confidence in justice. Of course, the court refused this too,” Fr. Nikita.

At this, the judge closed the preparatory meeting and scheduled the consideration of the case on the merits for July 19.

“The court is in a hurry or is someone 'hurrying' it?” asks the lawyer.

As the UOJ reported, on July 6, early in the morning, without waiting for the court's decision, the Ministry of Culture, with the forceful support of the police, seized three buildings of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, including the residence of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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