Supreme Court overturns eviction decision against UOC priest in Volyn

Priest of the UOC Rostyslav Syzhuk. Photo: pravoslavna.volyn.ua

The Supreme Court of Ukraine has overturned the decisions of the Volyn district and appellate courts regarding the eviction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church priest along with his minor children from a church house in the village of Rakiv Lis, Kamin-Kashyrsky district, Volyn region. As reported by the press service of the Volyn diocese, the decision was made on June 26.

On August 16, 2023, the Kamin-Kashyrsky District Court of the Volyn region decided to eliminate the obstacle to the use of property by the OCU community of the church house, where Archpriest Rostyslav Syzhuk lived with his family. The court's ruling referred to the church building as a "non-residential premise".

Father Rostyslav filed an appeal. On December 13 of the same year, the Volyn Appellate Court ordered the removal of the word "non-residential" from the Kamin-Kashyrsky District Court ruling. The appellate court left the ruling itself unchanged.

Disagreeing with these decisions, the clergyman filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

On June 26, the Supreme Court, consisting of a panel of judges from the First Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court, partially satisfied Sizhuk R. M.'s cassation appeal. The decision of the Kamin-Kashyrsky District Court of the Volyn region and the ruling of the Volyn Appellate Court were overturned, and the case was sent for retrial to the court of first instance.

The ruling of the cassation court comes into force upon its issuance, is final, and is not subject to appeal.

As the UOJ reported, the UOC community in the village of Rakiv Lis was one of the first in the region to be illegally reregistered to the OCU. After the former rector of the Annunciation Church, Archpriest Mykola Smoliarchuk, along with part of the religious community, moved to Dumenko's structure and was banned from the priesthood, the UOC community received a new rector, Archpriest Rostyslav Syzhuk. On March 17, 2019, after a provocation by OCU supporters, the church was sealed. Parishioners were denied access to it and prayed in a temporary tent. In September 2021, the UOC church was consecrated in Rakiv Lis, built in place of the seized one within 7 months.

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