The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, based on the materials of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), found former Chairman of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, guilty of violating the statutory restrictions on receiving gifts. In addition, the court ordered Knyazev to pay a fine of UAH 2,550 and confiscated a gift in the amount of UAH 906,600.
According to Part 2 of Art. 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption," judges are prohibited from accepting gifts whose value exceeds two subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons. At the time of Knyazev's offense, the limit was one minimum wage, which amounted to UAH 2,684. A gift includes property transferred for paid use at a price lower than the minimum market price.
In violation of this prohibition, Vsevolod Knyazev received a gift in the form of a 133 sq. m. apartment in the Pechersk district (Lipki) of Kyiv at a price significantly lower than the minimum market rent. Based on the real estate lease agreement concluded at the end of 2017, the judge rented the apartment for living with a monthly payment of UAH 1 thousand.
The court ruling can be appealed within 10 days from the date of its issuance and comes into force after the deadline for filing an appeal.
As a reminder, on October 13, 2023, NACP Head Oleksandr Novikov drew up a report on an administrative offense against the former Chairman of the Supreme Court under Part 1 of Article 172-5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
In total, in 2020-2023, the NACP drew up 21 protocols (against 18 judges) on the facts of identified conflicts of interest, including those related to the receipt of gifts. This indicates that the Council of Judges, which has appropriated the powers of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to provide clarifications on the prevention of such conflicts of interest, has not provided its colleagues with proper methodological assistance. The conditions for committing offenses will remain in place until the Procedure for Monitoring Compliance with Legislation on Conflict of Interest in the Activities of Judges and Representatives of the Judiciary and its Settlement, approved by the Decision of the Council of Judges of Ukraine No. 2 dated February 4, 2016, is brought into compliance with the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption."
The NACP is constantly working to prevent corruption and related offenses by officials by raising their awareness of the issues of preventing and resolving conflicts of interest.
Information on the application of restrictions on the receipt of gifts, as well as on other issues of preventing and resolving conflicts of interest, is contained in the Guidelines dated October 21, 2022, No. 13, "On the Application of Certain Provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption" on the Prevention and Settlement of Conflicts of Interest, Compliance with Restrictions on the Prevention of Corruption" (in the NACP knowledge base, section "Conflict of Interest" or in the format of a guide).
We also recommend taking the online course "Understanding Conflicts of Interest" posted on the Study.NAZK learning platform.
