The HACCU ruling to cancel the preventive measure in the form of detention applied to former MP Dmytro Kriuchkov will force courts to more carefully substantiate the risks of absconding and return to more democratic preventive measures, says Olga Kukuyuk, attorney at Barristers.
“This ruling has become an important precedent for national court practice, as it emphasized the need for a more thorough approach to determining the validity of risks, in particular the risk of absconding. The HACCU made it clear that putting a person on the international wanted list cannot in itself be considered a sufficient ground to justify the application of a preventive measure in the form of detention,” she told Interfax-Ukraine.
The lawyer believes that “this decision was a significant step towards improving judicial practice in Ukraine, statistics for 2023 indicate serious problems in the system of making decisions on preventive measures.”
Kukuyuk provides statistics on court decisions on the application of preventive measures. Thus, in 2023, the HACCU AP considered 1182 cases, of which 999 concerned appeals against the decisions of investigating judges. Of these decisions, 132, or 13.2%, were overturned, which indicates a significant number of errors in the decisions of the first instance courts.
According to the lawyer, “the statistics emphasize the need to improve the quality of substantiation and thorough analysis of facts by investigating judges”.
“Insufficient attention to the details of the case or misinterpretation of the risks in cases can lead to unreasonable and disproportionate restriction of the rights and freedoms of suspects and defendants,” she said.
Kukuyuk also drew attention to the statistics of refusals to apply preventive measures: in 2023, the rate of refusals to apply preventive measures decreased to 5.9%, while in 2019 this figure was 23.8%.
“The downward trend in the number of refusals to apply measures of restraint is worrying. On the one hand, this may indicate a tougher approach on the part of judges when deciding on the application of a preventive measure. However, on the other hand, such indicators may indicate a tendency to restrict the rights of individuals through the unjustified application of preventive measures,” the lawyer believes.
In addition, Kukuyuk noted that the restriction of the right to cassation appeal against decisions of investigating judges on preventive measures further complicates the situation, as persons appealing against preventive measures in the vast majority of cases do not have the opportunity to verify the legality of decisions of higher court judges.
According to statistics for 2023, out of 128 cassation appeals filed against decisions of the HACC Appeals Chamber, 31.2% were rejected because they were not subject to cassation appeal.
“This fact indicates a restriction of access to justice for suspects and accused persons. At the same time, 4.6% of complaints were satisfied due to significant violations of the criminal procedural law, and 1.6% due to incorrect application of the law, which indicates the need to improve the quality of court decisions,” Kukuyuk said.
“From my own experience, I consider it necessary to add that the practice of the HACCU AP does not have a single approach to determining the procedural consequences of putting a person on the international wanted list for criminal proceedings in the context of establishing the fact of hiding a person from pre-trial investigation and court,” the lawyer said.
Kukuyuk emphasized that the prosecution in each case must prove with proper evidence that the suspect is evading investigation or trial, “however, the HACCU has repeatedly ignored the conclusion of the higher court.”
“In general, the decision of the HACCU to cancel the preventive measure in the case of Dmytro Kriuchkov is a positive signal for the Ukrainian judicial system about the need to improve law enforcement practice, ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens and minimize possible abuses in criminal proceedings,” the lawyer emphasized.
As reported in October 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) completed an investigation into the suspected abuse of power by the acting chairman of the board of Cherkasyoblenergo (Svitlana Kuzminska and Oleksii Bezpalyi), acting CEO of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo (Ihor Kornilenkov) and chairman of the board of Energomerezha (Dmytro Kriuchkov). Kriuchkov is involved in the case of misappropriation of UAH 346 million from Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, where more than 60% of the shares belong to the state.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1027439.html
