Ukrainian lawyers warn of serious consequences that threaten Kyiv after the Russian Federation recognizes the Maidan as a coup.
The decision by Moscow's Dragomilovsky Court, which recognized Viktor Yanukovych's removal from power as a coup d'état, could have concrete legal consequences, as Ukraine is a signatory to the CIS Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Matters, writes the Kyiv-based online newspaper Strana.
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“You can try to enforce a court decision in several ways. The first, the simplest, on the basis of the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Matters, which is ratified by Ukraine, the Code of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff will ask the Ukrainian court to recognize the decision of the Russian court as binding for Ukraine. It is clear that our court will refuse, and this decision will certainly be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. Regardless of the positivity of the decision, there will be a loud information noise, primarily aimed at citizens of the Russian Federation,” Oleg Babich, managing partner of the Lex & Buckler Law Firm, told the publication.
However, he did not rule out that military action could be another way to implement the court’s decision.
“The Russian government must either ignore the decision of its own court or will be obliged to take significant measures to implement it, for example, new criminal cases, non-recognition of ownership of certain property, severance of diplomatic relations, even to the point of non-recognition, perhaps in the distant future, of the Ukrainian authorities and the introduction military contingent. It is dangerous to underestimate the multiple moves of our northern neighbor, especially taking into account the rapidly changing international environment,” warns Babich.
But former Deputy Minister of Justice, lawyer Yuri Ivashchenko believes that the decision of the Dragomilovsky court could be the beginning of a whole galaxy of political consequences.
“Remember the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, which decided to consider the Holodomor a genocide of the Ukrainian people,” the lawyer recalled. – After this judicial factual decision, there followed a concrete tightening of the screws against those who denied that this was genocide. This was followed by decisions at the legislative level - punishment for denying genocide and so on. That is, establishing the fact of a coup d'etat may become a new beginning of the political struggle. And since we have not repealed the Legal Assistance Convention, Russia may demand that Ukraine establish the fact of a coup. And then in any decision of a court of European jurisdiction against Ukrainian officials of the previous government or the current one, this authority will refer to this decision of the Moscow court and will use it as evidence in the case. That is, this is only the first step.”
In turn, former Minister of Justice Elena Lukash, recalling that the decision of the Moscow court is recognized without obstacles and restrictions by the twelve countries party to the Convention, notes, not without sarcasm, that it is time for “activists” to loudly declare the unwillingness of the state of Ukraine to implement and even recognize this Convention.” .